View Single Post
Old 06-30-2015, 07:58 AM
soccertese soccertese is offline
Magnate
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,531
15 yr Member
soccertese soccertese is offline
Magnate
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,531
15 yr Member
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BreezyRacer View Post
These "personalized treatments" are just a PR stunt, mainly for IBM. Will your health insurance company pay for advanced treatment like this? Mine won't even come close and we have a reputed "very good" plan.

While the headlines from studies make it sound like we're close to this, we are miles away .. so far away that unless you are in the 1% and paying with your own money, or risk joining into a study that just happens to be doing what you want and are lucky enough not to be in the placebo group. At least that's the way I see it in the states. Perhaps it's much better in the UK or France, I don't know.

If there was ANY interest in "personalized treatment" your docs would do genetic testing first and you would be getting all kinds of serum tests and biopsies, etc. In my experience they never do this stuff till it's almost always too late. Insurance companies determine the treatment methods because they determine what they will pay for.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant .. I guess it is. Has anyone here had a different experience in the US, or any country for that matter?
what are you ranting about!!!!
the first dose of penicillin likely cost $1million, there was a board set up to determine who received it, basically who lived or died, there was no prescription insurance back in the 1940's.

l-dopa cost a fortune to manufacture when first discovered, read the history. but eventually they became dirt cheap. same story is happening in genetic testing. cost isn't going to be the problem, it's not an exact science and interpreting the data is slowing implementation, not cost, which is why i think some docs don't want to open that can of worms with patients on all but the most serious of genes affecting diseases. i'm not an expert on this but had to reply.

i used to write software for retail pharmacies, i'll never forget the day i had to change the software to handle drug prices over $9999.99, and as drugs became more expensive, more people had to buy insurance to cover the costs and control them. but even in a 1 payor system, talk to some brits or canadians, you have to jump thru hoops to get expensive meds.

i hate the profit motive in medicine as much as anyone and i think pd'ers suffer more than they should in just getting the best treatment using the cheaper meds such as C/L, requip, mirapex since neuros are so overworked and often don't have the time to fine tune dosing unless a patient insists on it or find the absolutely best drug regime.

sorry for my rant.
soccertese is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote