Chemotherapy For Late-Stage Cancer Patients Unjustified
I really don’t want to think the worst, but some oncologists make it very difficult to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Putting myself in their shoes, I can’t imagine what it would be like to look into the eyes of elderly cancer patients, day after day, and tell them there’s nothing that can be done.
So it’s understandable that many oncologists are offering treatments they know are ineffective simply to give some hope and to make their work just a little bit less heart-breaking.
It might be wrong but at least I could understand it.
But sadly, that’s probably not the primary reason why desperate patients are being subjected to needless – and worthless – chemotherapy treatments.
No, it’s much more likely that there’s more at play here, than a simple misguided gesture of goodwill.
Sometimes fatal
University of Chicago (UC) researchers, in the US, recently examined medical records for more than 1,000 patients with metastatic colon cancer.
They found that about one in every eight patients (approximately 130 patients in total) received chemotherapy that was either shown to be ineffective, or its use was not supported by evidence, or there was no compelling rationale for the use of the drug.
One of those drugs – Avastin – can cost an arm and a leg…
A few months ago, I told you about potential side effects linked to Avastin. Here’s just a partial list…
- Gastrointestinal perforation – sometimes fatal
- Incomplete wound healing – sometimes fatal
- Serious bleeding in the stomach or brain – sometimes fatal
- Kidney problems – sometimes fatal
- Vision disturbances – including blindness
So I have to ask: What kind of a monster do you have to be to administer a drug like that to a patient who you know will receive scant or possibly no benefit at all?
I guess you have to be a financially desperate monster. But that’s obviously no excuse. It’s robbery, pure and simple. The UC team reports that the patients in the study who were put at significant and unnecessary risk paid out more than $2 million for the cancer drugs.
It’s beyond despicable!
What’s worse, this study confirms a long, on-going problem…
In 2003, an oncologist examined the medical records of almost 8,000 cancer patients. He found that in cases where chemotherapy was given in the final six months of life, ONE-THIRD of the patients had cancers that are known to be unresponsive to chemotherapy.
In a 2008 review of about 600 cases in which cancer patients died within 30 days of receiving chemotherapy, 40 per cent experienced “significant poisoning” from their treatment, and about one-in-four deaths were accelerated or actually caused by the treatment.
And in 2005, medical insurance companies, in the US, reduced payments to oncologists who administer outpatient chemo. In response, some doctors simply began treating more patients with chemo and began using more expensive drugs to offset their lost revenue.
A late-stage cancer is a desperate time for a patient. He and his family are vulnerable and scared, and they’re likely to cling to any bit of hope. But hard as it is, that’s when they have to be most diligent in challenging doctors with tough questions through every step of their therapy.
And while saying “no,” can feel like giving up, it may end up saving you a lot of money and, more importantly, a lot of pain and frustration.
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Sources:
“Chemo for Late-Stage Cancer Patients May Be Unjustified” Robert Preidt, HealthDay News, 6/9/11, nlm.nih.gov
“Chemotherapy Contributes to a Quarter of Cancer Deaths: Study” Sara Everingham, ABC News (Australia), 11/13/08, abc.net.au
“How Medicare’s Payment Cuts For Cancer Chemotherapy Drugs Changed Patterns Of Treatment” Health Affairs, Published online ahead of print 6/17/10, content.healthaffairs.org
“Yes! A dose of sun CAN protect you against skin cancer” Professor Angus Dalgleish, Daily Mail, 5/24/11, dailymail.co.uk
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Why am i not surprized, and why do i choose the alternative route?