Received an e-mail today from Raoul with two troubling links:
1. NICE – National Institute for Clinical Excellence
Patients cannot rely on the NHS to save their lives if the cost of doing so is too great, the Government’s medicines watchdog has ruled for the first time.
2. NICE Part II – Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research
PURPOSE— The Council shall foster optimum coordination of comparative effectiveness and related health services research conducted or supported by relevant Federal departments and agencies, with the goal of reducing duplicative efforts and encouraging coordinated and complementary use of resources.
I’m not sure when we get out of this groupthink funk where we believe the answer to our problems lies in giving government more responsibility.
I think some wake up when when they find themselves in a position where the decision to save their life or that of a love one lies in the hands of a disinterested, removed bureaucrat charged with evaluating the cost and benefit of treatment. That’s when it will become apparent that individual evaluation of value may differ greatly from those of the overseers.
Anyone who has struggled with a disagreement with their homeowner’s association board may have an inkling of how that plays out.
Our Dinner Table 