Newspaper article

catcon49
catcon49 Member Posts: 398
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
Yesterday, in our local paper an article was published questioning the use of expensive chemo and other drugs on our elderly patients. It questioned that if a drug could only extend and 80 year old man's life for 4 months and cost 100,000 dollars is it worth it. This upset me very much. I would like to write a letter to the editor expressing my disgust with this. I could use some help writing this. I am afraid that if they think 80 is too old, what is to stop them from saying 70 is to old. Will the cut off be 60 at some point. Any opinions on this? Am I just spinning my own wheels writting to the editor? If anyone would like the address of the newspaper let me know.

Comments

  • Glenna M
    Glenna M Member Posts: 1,576
    #2
    I would love to read the article so if you could tell me the name of the newspaper I might be able to find them online and read it. Yes, I would very much like their address also. They had a story on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago about the cost of caring for terminal elderly patients and how many millions of dollars were being spent on some patients, only to have them live for a couple of months. Like you said about the cut off age, who will decide when we are "too old" for treatments????
  • catcon49
    catcon49 Member Posts: 398
    #3
    Glenna M said:

    I would love to read the article so if you could tell me the name of the newspaper I might be able to find them online and read it. Yes, I would very much like their address also. They had a story on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago about the cost of caring for terminal elderly patients and how many millions of dollars were being spent on some patients, only to have them live for a couple of months. Like you said about the cut off age, who will decide when we are "too old" for treatments????

    The Scranton Times - Tribune
    The Scranton Times - Tribune located Scranton PA Article was monday morning paper. It started on page 1 a little thing on the side continued on section C page 6
  • zinniemay
    zinniemay Member Posts: 522
    #4
    catcon49 said:

    The Scranton Times - Tribune
    The Scranton Times - Tribune located Scranton PA Article was monday morning paper. It started on page 1 a little thing on the side continued on section C page 6

    Article
    The artical also appeared in The Kalamazoo Michigan Gazette paper. It spoke of some of the cost of the drugs. It was a sad article. Because where would one draw a line. If you are setting reading this it will make you cry. I know, I tried not to let my husband see it. But he did.
  • Dapsterd
    Dapsterd Member Posts: 291
    #5
    LIfe time
    I see your point.....look at this angle.

    Most new clinical trial chemo drugs have many $$ invested. Most preliminary results and many statistics of certain approved chemo drugs, as well as some cancer care centers indicate that there product/institution have prologed on average a cancer patients 'life say by..by 1 1/2 months......well Who Cares if they live another month or two?

    I have 3B stage lung cancer and am 4 months into treatment, and I DO NOT KNOW HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT THIS SITUATION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, I AM ONLY COMMENTING ON WHAT HAS CROSSED MY MIND.
    HOWEVER, I DO NOT NEED 1.5 MONTHS EXTRA TIME TO LIVE (unless it starts right now !! lol) FOR $50 MILLION IN RESEARCH INVESTMENT...BUT WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS RESEARCH, LOOK AT MEDICINE FROM 100 YEARS AGO...WE MUST KEEP IMPROVING AND IMPROVING TILL WE GET THERE, AND THIS COSTS MONEY.

    This is a difficult situation that goverment, insurance carriers, priviate sector, Ppersonal/business taxation..and so on and on.. must resolve., and it never really will be to be quite frank.

    The situation is drug companies must keep moving forward, they are a business, but on the humanistic level, we should be grateful for the research and drugs produced.

    Thanx for letting me speak.

    Dave
  • zinniemay
    zinniemay Member Posts: 522
    #6
    Dapsterd said:

    LIfe time
    I see your point.....look at this angle.

    Most new clinical trial chemo drugs have many $$ invested. Most preliminary results and many statistics of certain approved chemo drugs, as well as some cancer care centers indicate that there product/institution have prologed on average a cancer patients 'life say by..by 1 1/2 months......well Who Cares if they live another month or two?

    I have 3B stage lung cancer and am 4 months into treatment, and I DO NOT KNOW HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT THIS SITUATION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, I AM ONLY COMMENTING ON WHAT HAS CROSSED MY MIND.
    HOWEVER, I DO NOT NEED 1.5 MONTHS EXTRA TIME TO LIVE (unless it starts right now !! lol) FOR $50 MILLION IN RESEARCH INVESTMENT...BUT WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS RESEARCH, LOOK AT MEDICINE FROM 100 YEARS AGO...WE MUST KEEP IMPROVING AND IMPROVING TILL WE GET THERE, AND THIS COSTS MONEY.

    This is a difficult situation that goverment, insurance carriers, priviate sector, Ppersonal/business taxation..and so on and on.. must resolve., and it never really will be to be quite frank.

    The situation is drug companies must keep moving forward, they are a business, but on the humanistic level, we should be grateful for the research and drugs produced.

    Thanx for letting me speak.

    Dave

    Thank you
    Dave,
    I do see your point and I know that coming from someone that is in a hard spot to bve. You have a valid point. On the human side it is sad for anyone. On the bussiness point well who knows. If Greed plays a part or the need to build a bigger faster better company.
    It is sad that we need to be in this place to have to decide. I do know in 1963 when my husband's mother died Ovarian cancer , If she were here today there would be a better out come for her and Less pain. It is when you put faces to these cancer terms and words that the tears start to flow. Who in the world would want to decided if anyone should or should not be given every chance for life If even for a month!
    Thank you for your view
  • Siope
    Siope Member Posts: 1
    #7
    Dapsterd said:

    LIfe time
    I see your point.....look at this angle.

    Most new clinical trial chemo drugs have many $$ invested. Most preliminary results and many statistics of certain approved chemo drugs, as well as some cancer care centers indicate that there product/institution have prologed on average a cancer patients 'life say by..by 1 1/2 months......well Who Cares if they live another month or two?

    I have 3B stage lung cancer and am 4 months into treatment, and I DO NOT KNOW HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT THIS SITUATION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, I AM ONLY COMMENTING ON WHAT HAS CROSSED MY MIND.
    HOWEVER, I DO NOT NEED 1.5 MONTHS EXTRA TIME TO LIVE (unless it starts right now !! lol) FOR $50 MILLION IN RESEARCH INVESTMENT...BUT WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS RESEARCH, LOOK AT MEDICINE FROM 100 YEARS AGO...WE MUST KEEP IMPROVING AND IMPROVING TILL WE GET THERE, AND THIS COSTS MONEY.

    This is a difficult situation that goverment, insurance carriers, priviate sector, Ppersonal/business taxation..and so on and on.. must resolve., and it never really will be to be quite frank.

    The situation is drug companies must keep moving forward, they are a business, but on the humanistic level, we should be grateful for the research and drugs produced.

    Thanx for letting me speak.

    Dave

    Newspaper Articles and other opinions
    Most of these cheapskate managed care pundits share a few traits. Very rarely are they sick, and they are usually so "goodie two shoes" they never will get sick. We should be able to ignore them, but if we do they mught just influence enough people to stop progress, so we have to fight them.

    The truth is it's not about us, the patients, or the drug companies. It's about human desire for improvement.

    The first electronic calculator that NASA put into space cost a little less than a million dollars, in taxpayer money, no less! If we had had any sense at all back then we would have scrapped the entire space project. But we didn't, and we have progressed.

    The same thing can happen with cancer research and treatment, as well as for heart disease and any number of other afflictions. At first it barely works, and it's expensive. But after a while it becomes reliable and efficient, and then rewarding.

    Ignore the naysayers and cheapskates when they are talking to you. But be sure to denounce them to anyone else they try to poison.


    Pete

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