If my magic wand had batteries…

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It always amazes me that U.S. dialysis patients are not more healthy than the rest of the world’s.  Even though our program costs more than everyone else’s.  Of course, many of our dialysis patients end up as dialysis patients because they have diabetes- which is the proximate cause of their kidney failure.  And, keeps our dialysis population at the top of the charts (as in “way too many patients”).   And, this also often leads to cardiovascular complications, which reduces the ability of these patients to undergo kidney transplants.

Which is a real problem, since dialysis is among the most expensive therapies offered to patients.  And, without a transplant, it means the patient will be dialyzed thrice a week, every week, for the rest of their lives.  And that’s what makes dialysis really expensive.

Consider the fact that we have almost ½ million folks on dialysis (450,000 is close enough, right?)  And, these costs are part and parcel of the Medicare budget.  (Dialysis is covered for US patients, after a waiting period, regardless of age, by Medicare.)

While dialysis patients can live for years, in the US, the chances for patient death exceeds that of almost every other nation on earth.

There are real problems.  Let’s start with the dialysis procedure itself.  For decades, the US government did not want to pay for the costs of home dialysis.  About thirty years ago, a firm offered widespread home dialysis.  At a cost not one penny more than in-center dialysis.  At a quality that matched or exceeded in-center dialysis.  Which afforded the patient a chance at an almost regular life.

But, HHS (Health and Human Services Agency) sued the firm, causing it to stop offering that treatment modality. To save not one red cent for the American taxpayer.  Shortly afterward, the firm was acquired by one of the biggest dialysis firms in the world.  To the demise of home dialysis.  (Oh, sure, the modality is available- but only 11% of the dialysis population avail themselves of this choice, because of the restrictions imposed. Most other advanced nations reach 30+% for this mode.  Had that firm not been squashed by the Feds, you can bet our percentage of home dialysis patients would be nearer to 50% or more.)

(The government feels that home dialysis should cost less- even though no one else really offers large scale programs to offer same.  And, home dialysis patients feel far more empowered than in-center treated ones.  They don’t get stuck with a dialysis center schedule; they may even be dialyzable at night, so they can work during the day. )

Or, the fact that our government has outlawed stem cell research (OK- just the funding of such research- but we all know that without a sure source of funding, nothing will occur) from our arsenal of tricks to improve health care.   One would have expected a true replacement kidney would have been in use by now.  [Our firm expected it some 2 decades ago, given the initial research, normal progress of improvements, and technology advances.]  And, even if stem-cell-derived kidney (and the operation to insert same into a patient) cost $ 150K, our nation would be breakeven in 4 years- and, instead of having a debilitated citizen, we’d have a productive taxpayer.

Maybe it’s time we changed these prejudices.

But, then, again, we still seem to have rampant racial prejudices across this (should-be) great nation.

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3 thoughts on “If my magic wand had batteries…”

  1. A thought-provoking post. I wonder why the US have so many patients with diabetes. Is obesity one of the mai factors? Maybe working on the root causes would save money and allow more research to take place. I think that stemm cell research can benefit lots of patients, and it’s a shame it hasn’t really been allowed to progress.
    Muriel recently posted..How I Became A Bond Girl

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