Thousands Go Blind with National Health Care

(Great Britain) Due to delays in getting approval for distribution of the drug Lucentis, which by the way is readily available in other countries, thousands of Brit citizens are negligently, or intentionally, allowed to go blind due to a condition called wet age-related macular degeneration.

Although the drug Lucentis has been available since 2006, the bureaucracy of the National Health Service (NHS), along with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), has denied necessary distribution of the drug to over 50,000 patients in that period. Instead, NICE stated that the drug could only be prescribed after a patient went blind in one eye.

Apparently, the bureaucrats at NICE hoped to save sight in the other eye but, unfortunately, the disease progresses rapidly and patients lost sight in both eyes before being allowed treatment.

Over 50,000 blind people can blame the government bureaucracy, up and down, for the lack of proper drugs. Whenever the government is involved with health care, you can expect literally thousands of people taking an inordinate amount of time making decisions directly affecting patients. People went blind not because of waiting lists, the usual complaint, or clinical trials. They went blind because the bureaucrats at NICE and within the NHS couldn't make a decision.

And, if Obama is elected President of the United States and gets his national health care scheme through Congress, be prepared to go blind (metaphorically) in America.

By the way, the head of NICE, Andrew Dillon, said that he is "genuinely sorry" that delays have caused thousands of people to go blind. Sadly, though, blindness is life-altering, Andrew Dillon's sorrow isn't.

Companion post at SocGlory.