NHS leaves a British woman to die because she went outside the nationalized health system.
A Grandmother whose free NHS treatment was withdrawn because she paid privately for anti-cancer drugs has died.Yesterday Linda O'Boyle's husband condemned the policy behind the decision and said it had made his dying wife's last months even more stressful.
Mrs O'Boyle, 64, had been receiving state-funded treatment - including chemotherapy - for colon cancer.
But when she took cetuximab, a drug which promised to extend her life but is not available on the NHS, her health trust made her start paying for her care.
The victim's husband, an NHS manager, has had his eyes opened by the experience:
Mr O'Boyle, an NHS manager for 30 years, said: 'I think every drug should be available to all of us if there's a need for that drug to be used.'I offered to pay for it but was told I couldn't continue with the treatmentwe were receiving at the hospital-The consultant was flabbergasted - he was very upset.'
He added: 'I was always very anti private treatment. But everything she had wasn't working and it was a last resort. ...
Medical experts say the ban on co-payment is one reason why Britain has one of the worst survival rates for cancer in Europe.
But at least rich people and poor people all get to die evenly! Too bad they have to die at the level of poor people, though.
(HT: The Pirate.)
