UK: Patients forced to live in agony after NHS refuses to pay for painkilling injections

Here is another example of the failure of socialized medicine. This follow on the heels of the NHS refusal to pay for necessary medicines for advanced breast cancer patients. This time, it is chronic back pain sufferers who are being tossed overboard by a bureaucracy that makes the people's health care decisions for them.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Tens of thousands with chronic back pain will be forced to live in agony after a decision to slash the number of painkilling injections issued on the NHS, doctors have warned.

The Government's drug rationing watchdog says "therapeutic" injections of steroids, such as cortisone, which are used to reduce inflammation, should no longer be offered to patients suffering from persistent lower back pain when the cause is not known.

'Drug rationing watchdog'. The term actually makes me shudder.

This is what we can look forward to if ObamaCare becomes law.

Originally posted by jsobecky
This is what we can look forward to if ObamaCare becomes law.

"If"? How about "when"?

I can appreciate your optimism but I think it's already a done deal. Granted, I KNOW they haven't 'officially' voted it in yet, but a month here or there doesn't make that big of a difference. And even if it's not voted in, in its entirety, I 'm sure there will be many opportunities to get the basics in and 'enhance' it later. (See the history of Social Security, Medicare, et al.).

Essentially, for all intents and purposes, it's done. Expect it.

Lets see you read to the bottom of this post before talking crap.

I have been following these kinds of stories for quite a while now, the consensus is they are treating something which has gone undiagnosed, simply because there is a small loophole, word passed around years ago that having a bad back exempted you from working, and that just having the pain did not mean they knew what the problem was, this then got abused by many people who wanted to claim disability benefits.

Now not everyone is lying about the pain they are suffering, but advances in technology has began to weed out the lazy from the genuinely ill, so rather than just throw money on a burning fire, they are going to try and solve the problem, for too long now saying you have a bad back couldn't be dis proven, people claimed their benefits, then got photographed moving furniture, and doing things they shouldn't be able to do ever.

The situation was discussed and it was decided that rather than treat an unknown illness, they would get to the answers in a different way, and it is working, so many miracles have happened when some people hear they are going to do tests that will once and for all find the problem, because what those tests reveal will decide if the person who has been claiming hundreds of pounds a week in benefits for years and years has been telling the truth, if proven they face fraud charges and prison time.

It's very sad when so few can destroy a service needed by those who really need it, and it is just a few lazy good for nothings, those in real need don't go without, in many cases they are being offered the more expensive option through surgery or other successful treatments, so basically treating the problem and not the symptoms, which has to be better for every one.

It has nothing to do with socialised medicine, it's about getting the right resources to the right people, nobody here in the UK is refused treatment, those who keep calling the NHS a communist system really don't know what they are talking about, they just use it to promote their own propaganda, trying to convince people it's the biggest evil in the world.

How can looking after the sick free of charge without prejudice be evil? surely a system where when you need medical care, the last thing you need to worry about is the money to get it cant be all that bad can it?

I have lived in the USA and used their Hospitals, and what annoyed me more than anything was the first question being asked after being hunted down during a Cardiac episode DO YOU HAVE YOUR INSURANCE DETAILS, I had insurance, but surely the stabilisation of the patient should take priority before deciding if you can afford the treatment?

I refused a CT scan when I was admitted to hospital in Phoenix simply because I am old hat were my medical conditions are concerned and I did not need a test worth thousands of $ just because I could pay for it, that was just nuts, and every time a friend went to Hospital it was the same, worthless tests for no reason.

A quick story for those who are still reading, A wonderful old lady I knew in Oswego NY worked all her life and paid into insurance and pensions, she became bed ridden, and survived because of the work and payments made during her 50 year career working for IBM, then one day out of the blue, IBM changed something, and all her income apart from $50 a month had to go on medication, how is that fair? how is that just or even moral?

From what I have seen nobody is going to be exempt from that kind of situation if your current system is allowed to continue, and I don't care who you are, you don't know what your health is going to be like in a years time, no matter how good your insurance is, you will be dumped and refused, that dear old lady had one of the top jobs at IBM, and was left to rot, and she had one of the best insurance policies you could get.

Last I heard she was in a home, her house had been taken and she had nothing left, I don't even know if she is still alive, maybe I'm terrified to hear the bad news.

But don't criticise something you have no understanding of, because it could be your turn soon, get the facts before trying to convince the World the communists are about to give you a shot in the ass, because for all it's downfalls, the NHS is still the best system on the Planet.

And all paid for by a small tax called National Insurance, nobody gets refused, and your certainly not asked stupid questions when you arrive at the Hospital, you don't need your social security number or ID, the only reason your asked your name is to find your medical records, now is that a bad system? or is giving your credit card details and whole financial history the best way to go?

firstly stop with the socialist/communist medicin all ready

and ready up on what your posting.

chortisone is bad for you.

it makes your bone brittle over time , sure it might work and have a curing effect instantaniusly but the side effects and long term effects of chortisone usade is very bad.

besides most "cronic backpain" patients , sleep bad , sit bad, walk bad , eat bad so by changing thouse habbits they can change their life and stop eating up on resources.

and if they live in agony as you say with their back pains surly they eat pain killers and go to physio therapy because injecting chortison is just silly.

reply to post by azzllin


I've been wanting to say everything you said here so many times! Very well said! Starred!

As someone who used , or didin't use according to my income, the healthcare system for 25 years in the US, the NHS has been a breath of fresh air.

reply to post by azzllin


Thank you, but I would much rather take the word of Daniel Hannan, Euro MP, who warns the US to NOT follow in the footsteps of the UK in health care.

reply to post by jsobecky


lol

Well you go ahead then and take some politicians agendafied word over people who live and work in the UK utilizing the the NHS on a daily basis. Then again, man on the street first hand accounts don't fit with your
"socialized medicine is evil" agenda do they?

As zerbot said, cortisone is bad for you. All steroids are REALLY bad for you.

FYI - steroids are NOT painkillers, they are anti-inflammatory.

It is medical abuse to use steroids to treat undiagnosed back pain. The only real beneficiary is Big Pharma.

Also FYI - much evidence suggests that undiagnosed chronic back pain results from blood vessel disease. ...Treating the effects of blood vessel disease with steroids is really stupid.

reply to post by azzllin

It has nothing to do with socialised medicine, it's about getting the right resources to the right people, nobody here in the UK is refused treatment, those who keep calling the NHS a communist system really don't know what they are talking about, they just use it to promote their own propaganda, trying to convince people it's the biggest evil in the world.

While what you are saying may well be true about back pain, there is no denying that there is a postcode lottery as far as even life saving drugs go. Not only are new drugs refused to be rolled out because of the cost, but depending where you live you may be refused a life saving drug that someone in the next postcode gets because your local authority decided it cannot afford it. So the system is very unfair if you are the one needing the life saving drug. And I don't think it is the best system in the world when you see the filthy hospitals, the lack of care, patients starving to death because of lazy nurses and the incompetence of many doctors. And why do many go abroad to get treatment...some because of the waiting times and some because the treatment is better in other countries.

Euro-care ... bad health care that you die waiting for.
Thanks for the post JSO. Very interesting reading.

reply to post by jsobecky


Dan Hannan is far more interested in being the soundbite darling of the American media than a Euro MP.

What he says is widely seperated from the opinions and experiences of the vast majority of British people.

The NHS has been nothing but good to me and my family.

The NHS is far from perfect and suffers from serial under funding and inherent mis-management.
The public sector refuses to admit private sector managers into their ranks for fear of 'professionalism' spreading into working practices at all levels.

However, the NHS has provided excellent medical care for various members of my family and numerous friends and associates from all parts of society and income bands.

The NHS is blind to race, creed and social standing, that can only be a good thing.

As with Education, I find it disgusting that wealth can buy better health care but hypocritically I wouldn't hesistate to use my wealth to treat my family or myself.

I am no expert on the NHS but I would suggest professional managers from the private sector to manage leaving the health experts to do what they do best.

Oh, and Dan Hannan is a complete fool and is largely unknown in the UK and his views are cerainly not representative.

Originally posted by soficrow
As zerbot said, cortisone is bad for you. All steroids are REALLY bad for you.

FYI - steroids are NOT painkillers, they are anti-inflammatory.

It is medical abuse to use steroids to treat undiagnosed back pain. The only real beneficiary is Big Pharma.

Also FYI - much evidence suggests that undiagnosed chronic back pain results from blood vessel disease. ...Treating the effects of blood vessel disease with steroids is really stupid.

Do you have a source for your info.

ALL steroids are bad? Like the kind they give to Aids victims.POW/The Malnourished..Drivel.

You said Steroids are Anti Inflammatory, some not all, dont make it sound like thats all they do.
en.wikipedia.org...


I have back pain from Military Training (Spec Ops) and the doc pushed all kinds of meds on me. I was supposed to take 10-50mg of oxycodian every six hours. EVERYDAY. I didnt, I got steroid injections (prescribed lol) and they are the only thing that worked.

I guess I'm not surprised Obama was mentioned here. He just wants to kill everyone doesn't he? Him and his evil socialized medicine. Grrrr.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Die waiting for?
I've always seen specialists straight away and never had to wait. With all due respect, have you ever experienced the NHS first hand?

Obama will not create an American style National Health Service, he is not smart enough (or has the intelligence) to implement a radical policy. To be honest, medical reform will never happen under Obama - the United States cannot afford it.