Socialized Medicine Kills Again--Women in the U.K. Losing Access to Important Breast Cancer Drugs

From Yahoo Health contributor Linda Altman. This sort of thing is what we have to look forward to as soon as next year.

"The Telegraph reports that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has decided that two drugs used to treat HER2 positive breast cancer are not cost-effective. As a result, it is possible that two drugs, Herceptin and Tykerb -- Tyverb in the U.K. -- may not be available much longer. Both drugs are used in combination with other drug therapies.

Herceptin and Tykerb

Herceptin is a monoclonal antibody, which works by sitting on the HER2 receptor and prevents it from sending out the signal that causes cells to divide. Tykerb works in a similar manner. The big difference is that Herceptin is given through infusion or IV and Tykerb is administered orally.

HER2 positive breast cancer

All cells have HER2 receptors. Cancer cells that test positive for HER2 are considered to over-express this protein. The HER2 receptors send out signals that cause the cells to divide. The more HER2 receptors a cell has, the faster it divides -- making this particular type of cancer more aggressive than most.

Glad to be in the United States

In the United States, medicine and the treatment of disease is mostly done in a free-market situation. While the government regulates the industry somewhat -- like drug approval -- overall, access to FDA-approved drugs is not restricted. The government does not decide if a drug is cost-effective or not. The insurance companies make this decision. Insurance companies decide what they are willing to pay for and how much.

I have HER2 positive breast cancer. After undergoing tests to make sure that my heart can withstand the potential side effects of Herceptin, I started chemotherapy that includes this drug two days ago. Without Herceptin, there is a chance that my cancer could return by spreading to my other breast or to other parts of my body. That is a risk I am not willing to take.

The U.K. has socialized medicine. One of the problems of socialized medicine is illustrated clearly with this situation. Sometimes access to important life-saving drugs can be denied because they are not considered cost-effective when compared to the number of people they can help.

In the U.K. women will die unnecessarily without access to these two drugs. Herceptin and Tykerb are used to treat breast cancer that has metastasized to other parts of the body or to treat early-stage cancer where the tumor is very large -- greater than 2 cm. Herceptin is used to treat certain types of gastric cancers in addition to breast cancer."

Just wait until Obamacare fully kicks in--we, too, may be seeing the same type of thing here as insurers decide not to cover these drugs because of the cost. I suppose this can be thought of as clearing the gene pool the hard way--through deaths.

This is why it's so important to clear your own gene pool by eating right, lowering and ceasing altogether intake of toxins (including sugars) from processed foods and fast foods, and opting for the natural, non-toxic sugars ad substances from fresh, organic, and/or pastured foods. If you do this, and your family does this with you, it's possible to clear your family's gene pool in as little as three generations.