Hong Kong should not stint on the medication needed to save lives
Albert Cheng says two recent cases of patients who died because they could not afford the costly drugs underline the need for doctors, not accountants, to decide which medication to prescribe
Time and again, we hear the sad news of patients dying of cancer or a rare disease because they have been denied the best that medical science could offer as they could not afford the costly drugs.
Chi specifically wanted an expensive drug for her disease to be included in a list of government-subsidised medication.
The government’s pronounced policy is that “no one should be prevented, through lack of means, from obtaining adequate medical treatment”. However, as Chi’s case has shown, this is far from the reality. Even if it is a matter of life or death, there is no discretion. Even if the attending physicians have approved of the use of drugs not on the list, they can only sit on their hands and watch their patients languish away.
We must not sacrifice patients’ interests in the name of cost control or bureaucratic convenience
Patient groups estimate that less than HK$400 million would be adequate to cover the additional drug bill for the 2,000 or so local patients with rare diseases. In contrast, the government’s budget surplus for last year alone was HK$92 billion.