New York Times questions spending on “Extremely Expensive Cancer Drugs”
►http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/canc-j09.shtml
This brings us to another question. The entire discussion on the pages of the Times on what they describe as the outrageous amounts of money being squandered on Medicare is framed within the following argument: The government simply cannot afford this wasteful spending and all Americans must begin to live within their means and share in the sacrifice. The obvious choices for cutbacks are pricey drugs and treatments that really do very little, and “only” prolong life a few months at best for those who are going to die soon anyway.
Totally left out this equation are the trillions of dollars in taxpayers’ money that have been spent to bail out the banks, and to finance a growing list of imperialist wars. Another untouchable topic for the Times is the billions of dollars in profits being hauled in by the health care industry, including the insurance companies, the giant hospital chains and the pharmaceuticals.
These corporate interests stand to profit handsomely as a consequence of the Obama administration’s health care “reform”—while working class families and retirees will suffer as a result of the hundreds of billions of dollars cut from Medicare, Medicaid and other vital social programs.
In relation to the drugs discussed in the July 6 editorial, Provenge and Avastin, the Times also chooses not to address another inconvenient fact: the large sums of money being made by their manufacturers.
#santé #argent #pharmabaron #profitation #inégalités
Et oui, que chacun vive selon ses moyens parce que la recherche ne vaut que si elle rapporte.
Autrement dit, après des années de médecine à deux vitesses, les Américains vont retrouver une seule vitesse, mais juste pour les riches. Les autres peuvent crever !