The rule of rescue

I ' ve written about the rule of rescue quite a bit, but not recently.Now the approval of a new treatment for the genetic disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy is an occasion to revisit the topic. Some of the best discussion of this is in theNew York Times, but it ' s behind a paywall for many of you so I ' m providing alternative links.SMA can have slow onset, but for many it means death in early childhood without treatment. There is a previously approved treatment, which costs $375,000/year. The newly approved treatment is thought to require only a one-time infusion, which may provide life-long benefit, but it costs $2.1 million.This writer who lives with SMA argues that the new treatment (onasemnogene abeparvovec,  band name Zolgensma) should be covered by insurance. Nathan Yates writes:We should not put a price tag on life, though. “$2.1 million is too much to spend for that baby’s survival” isn’t the kind of “value assessment” we should ever accept as a society. Instead, think about the parents who will no longer have to receive the heartbreaking news that my parents were given 29 years ago: “Your child has spinal muscular atrophy, and there’s nothing we can do. Survival beyond early childhood is unlikely.” The price of Zolgensma seems insignificant now, don’t you think?Well, if you agree with him that “ ' $2.1 million is too much to spend for that baby ’s survival ' isn ’t the kind of “value assessment” we should ever accept as a society, " ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs