Many cancer patients have themselves paid the costs of life-prolonging treatment in private hospitals . The proportion of patients who have done so, has risen sharply from last year to this year.
60 cancer patients, 40 more than last year, have so far this year paid for immunotherapy in private hospitals out of their own pockets, NRK news reports .
The patients in question are all patients who do not get life-prolonging treatments covered by the public health system and because of this either have to pay the costs themselves or get the costs of the treatments covered by their health insurance.
These kinds of treatments for kidney and lung cancer costss around one million kroner per year.
Health spokesman of the Labour Party, Torgeir Micaelsen, thinks the authorities need to pay the costs in these instances as well.
– Your wallet should not determine what kind of treatment you are able to get, he says.
On Monday,the Decision Forum for new methods will decide whether they approve of the use of such medicine in the public health system.
The forum has previously approved methods and medicine including the use immunotherapy against melanoma.
Leader of the forum, physician Lars Moland says to NRK that the price is an important factor in deciding whether a treatment will be officially approved or not.
– One million per year is a huge price, and we have to take into account that the money can be used for other patients, he says.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
