Another Side Effect of ObamaCare...Dr. Rationing (Donald Berwick) to decide if cancer drug is 'necessary' to save someone's life

Another Side Effect of ObamaCare...Dr. Rationing (Donald Berwick) to decide if cancer drug is 'necessary' to save someone's life Scotty Starnes | August 15, 2010 at 5:39 PM | Tags: cancer treatments, CMS, death panels, Donald Berwick, Dr. Donald Berwick, FDA, government run health care, health care rationing, Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, pro-health care rationing, prostate cancer, Provenge, rationing czar, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, UK health care | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pvnFC-2gl

ObamaCare=the government decides what is "necessary" to substain life

Don't worry folks. You will learn to love ObamaCare and it's death panels. It is a death panel when you have a pro-health care rationing lover like Dr. Donald Berwick running the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He is the one that decides what medical procedures/medicines/treatments are approved in our government-run health care rationing system.

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance reports:

Provenge, a vaccine to treat the recurrence of prostate cancer, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   The vaccine is made from a patient's own blood cells with cancer cells and an immune boosting substance.  A three dose course of the immunotherapy is estimated to cost $93,000.  According to the company producing the vaccine, that equals $23,000 per added month of life.

Medicare usually covers the cost of FDA-approved anti-cancer therapies. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is still reviewing whether it will cover Provenge, and at what rate.

The CMS statute states that Medicare must cover therapies that are reasonable and necessary, while the FDA is instructed to approve drugs that are safe and effective.  Because of the conflicting Federal coverage and approval requirements, there are some non-FDA approved drugs (called off-label drugs) that are paid for by CMS.  However, with respect to Provenge, it appears that CMS is arguing that while the treatment is safe and effective, it may not be reasonable and necessary.   For the first time, an FDA approved anti-cancer therapy may not be covered by Medicare.

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