Good results come down to the quality of your doctor…
Recently the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Cancer Society trumpeted a 2% annual decline in cancer mortality rates as proof that the progress we are making in cancer research is benefiting patients. I think they’re celebrating the glass being 1/50th full.
To be sure, scientists have made tremendous scientific advances in prevention, early detection and management of cancer. But these organizations should decry the inability of the health-care system to deliver these advances to the patients who need them. The gaps are glaring:
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When a new screening test is developed, we should make sure that patients find their way to doctors who can perform it. When a new targeted therapy is discovered, we should make sure the right patients get it. When a drug that can relieve a person’s pain is proven to work, we should make sure it is sitting on every pharmacist’s shelf. If we address these problems, we’ll have a real reason to celebrate.
Dr. Bach is a physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and a member of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine. He formerly served as senior adviser to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington, D.C.
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