"Since his days are determined, the
number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot
pass." (Jobs 14:5)
How much you are willing to pay for another
year of life? With the advance of medical science and
technology, cancer care has revolutionized in recent years. New drugs have now
been used to treat cancer patients. The basic principle of these drugs is to
identify the genetic mutations that cause a particular kind of cancer, and aim
to turn off the mutated protein of the cancer cells. As such, the doctors can tailor the cancer therapies
to a particular person rather than giving standard therapy, hence, enhances
effectiveness of treatment. The treatment targets on cancer cells rather than
on healthy cells as well. Patients have to go for genetic tests before
treatment.
Targeted therapies can increase cancer
patients’ survival by months or years. The main issue is the cost which can come up to thousands of dollars per
month. Clearly this is out of reach for many people. It is a matter of time
before medical insurance companies resort to capping such therapy either by
setting a cap on the maximum amount the insured can claim per year, or by the
number of months of treatment per year.
One thing for sure is that medical insurance premium will go up over
time.
For patients and their immediate family
members, the difficult decision lies in how much those additional years of
survival worth, especially for those who cannot afford. To put it differently, how
much are you willing to pay for another year of life? There is no right answer
to this tough question but I guess common sense should prevail. Life is
precious! Don’t waste it.
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