Have You Heard Of Medical Tourism

[geauxtohell]

anyone with bad knees has considered medical tourism....

you can get a knee done in thailand for about 20k....but if they fuck you up.....you have zero recourse...no medical malpractice suits etc...

I have a feeling that significant percentage of these patients are going off shore not out of financial necessity, but due to different standards of care.

A prosthetic joint lasts about ten years. So most orthopods try and push off the surgery as long as possible. That makes a lot of people unhappy, but there is good evidence based medicine that argues against early intervention. Putting someone through 3-4 more surgeries when they can still be managed medically makes little sense. I've dealt with a lot of patients that were frustrated that a neurosurgeon wouldn't do spinal surgery on them. The fact is, some people are of the mind that medicine in this country should be a supermarket atmosphere where the customer gets what they want and is always right. That's not the case.

On the other hand, any 18 year old who has a penetrating abdominal wound is going to go to the OR no questions asked. Any person with appendicitis is going to the OR no questions asked.

There is a big difference between elective and emergent procedures. Apparently people don't understand that on this thread. However, if you have the time to hop a plane, it's not emergent.

 

[Sunshine]

100,000+ Americans travel to places like India, Belgium, Mexico, Spain, Columbia, S. Korea etc. each year to get medical procedures either denied to them here or too expensive for them to afford. The trend and numbers are growing.

Know what the problem is........we're the only industriali ed country in the world where over 500 companies make profits off of sick people. After all that we still rank 37th in general health and longeivity.

And a lot of that is plastic surgery like face lifts, butt lifts, etc. etc. We all know it is cheaper to send granny on a world cruise for a year than it is to keep her in a nursing home for a year.

 

[hortysir]

Horty. New Avatar ?

Aww...a Christmas present!!
Thanks

Here's yours:

 

[Cammmpbell]

You really expect someone to believe that the American "poor" are filling these medical spas around the world?

No one from socialized Europe goes do they?

This is just another liberal manufactured excuse to rant against the evil rich. No matter how poor the excuse is.

People do go to Mexico for cheaper services. The thing odd about this thread is far more come to the states then go to Mexico.

more faux outrage,

A lot of people go to foreign countries for treatments that are illegal here. Novel therapies. Ask Steve Jobs who went to India for some holistic herb therapy for pancreatic cancer rather than an operation here. Oh, you can't, he's dead.

I had a friend go to mexico for a sex change operation. He didn't make it through the psychological counseling here. He's dead too, suicide.

Quarterback Peyton Manning traveled to Europe during the summer to receive a stem cell treatment for his injured neck. The particular procedure he received has not been approved in the United States. I suppose he can afford it since the Colts just re-signed him and agreed to pay him an additional $100 or so million.

 

[California Girl]

So are people hoping planes to get medical care or not?

Sorry, I have rounded with fourth year Medical Students from Mexico. The difference? After they graduate, they can start treating people.

The best of them were clamoring to get a residency in the United States so they could be adequately trained.

I wouldn't let the others treat my dog.

Folks who talk the way you talk are Republicans. That means simply, "I've Got Mine...Now By Gawd You Get Yours"

I hate the GOP. I vote Democrat. That doesn't turn me into an automatron that is incapable of seeing a silly point.

You are somehow trying to tie in a group of people who have the means to fly to another country for elective surgery/procedures into the state of health care in this country.

They aren't really the issue. The issue are the millions of people who don't have access to basic health care.

There is a huge difference between 'don't have access' and 'choose not to'.

 

[Sunshine]

People do go to Mexico for cheaper services. The thing odd about this thread is far more come to the states then go to Mexico.

more faux outrage,

A lot of people go to foreign countries for treatments that are illegal here. Novel therapies. Ask Steve Jobs who went to India for some holistic herb therapy for pancreatic cancer rather than an operation here. Oh, you can't, he's dead.

I had a friend go to mexico for a sex change operation. He didn't make it through the psychological counseling here. He's dead too, suicide.

Quarterback Peyton Manning traveled to Europe during the summer to receive a stem cell treatment for his injured neck. The particular procedure he received has not been approved in the United States. I suppose he can afford it since the Colts just re-signed him and agreed to pay him an additional $100 or so million.

That mean old FDA!

 

[Cammmpbell]

A lot of people go to foreign countries for treatments that are illegal here. Novel therapies. Ask Steve Jobs who went to India for some holistic herb therapy for pancreatic cancer rather than an operation here. Oh, you can't, he's dead.

I had a friend go to mexico for a sex change operation. He didn't make it through the psychological counseling here. He's dead too, suicide.

Quarterback Peyton Manning traveled to Europe during the summer to receive a stem cell treatment for his injured neck. The particular procedure he received has not been approved in the United States. I suppose he can afford it since the Colts just re-signed him and agreed to pay him an additional $100 or so million.

That mean old FDA!

LOL.....it ain't rocket science. Once more it's a case of the haves and the have nots. Do you think for a minute any insurance company in America is about to approve anything resembling an experimental procedure............NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If this country had waited for a Republican administration to approve funds to go to the moon....we would still be shitting in one holers.

 

[Sunshine]

Quarterback Peyton Manning traveled to Europe during the summer to receive a stem cell treatment for his injured neck. The particular procedure he received has not been approved in the United States. I suppose he can afford it since the Colts just re-signed him and agreed to pay him an additional $100 or so million.

That mean old FDA!

LOL.....it ain't rocket science. Once more it's a case of the haves and the have nots. Do you think for a minute any insurance company in America is about to approve anything resembling an experimental procedure............NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If this country had waited for a Republican administration to approve funds to go to the moon....we would still be shitting in one holers.

And no government agency is obligated to approve a risky procedure or toxic medicine. I have worked in psychiatry for 22 years. In the early 90s we got a 'new' medicine here called Clozaril for schizophrenia. It had been on the market for 10 years already in Europe. But Clozaril can cause blood a fatal blood dyscrasia. It was not until systems were put in place, here, to be able to monitor and prevent deaths from occurring due to the treatment.

 

[Cammmpbell]

That mean old FDA!

LOL.....it ain't rocket science. Once more it's a case of the haves and the have nots. Do you think for a minute any insurance company in America is about to approve anything resembling an experimental procedure............NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If this country had waited for a Republican administration to approve funds to go to the moon....we would still be shitting in one holers.

And no government agency is obligated to approve a risky procedure or toxic medicine. I have worked in psychiatry for 22 years. In the early 90s we got a 'new' medicine here called Clozaril for schizophrenia. It had been on the market for 10 years already in Europe. But Clozaril can cause blood a fatal blood dyscrasia. It was not until systems were put in place, here, to be able to monitor and prevent deaths from occurring due to the treatment.

Yeah well......every week or two I see a legal team commerical telling the history of drugs gone astray in this country. Don't shit me....all drugs have side effects and even flu shots kill a percentage of those who agree to have one. Even the little blue pill which causes an erection kills some heart patients who don't get enough warning. If it is something which 20% of the population needs to be treated for they approve it. If it's expensive for insurance companies and only a few people are affected by it...........THEY WILL NEVER APPROVE IT

 

[Katzndogz]

People do go to Mexico for cheaper services. The thing odd about this thread is far more come to the states then go to Mexico.

more faux outrage,

A lot of people go to foreign countries for treatments that are illegal here. Novel therapies. Ask Steve Jobs who went to India for some holistic herb therapy for pancreatic cancer rather than an operation here. Oh, you can't, he's dead.

I had a friend go to mexico for a sex change operation. He didn't make it through the psychological counseling here. He's dead too, suicide.

Quarterback Peyton Manning traveled to Europe during the summer to receive a stem cell treatment for his injured neck. The particular procedure he received has not been approved in the United States. I suppose he can afford it since the Colts just re-signed him and agreed to pay him an additional $100 or so million.

Are you trying to say that Peyton Manning is too poor to afford medical treatment here? The experimental treatment he chose to get is not approved here in the US for the poor or the rich.

Although why not offer it to the poor for free, then you can complain about how the poor are used as experimental lab rats.

 

[Cammmpbell]

A lot of people go to foreign countries for treatments that are illegal here. Novel therapies. Ask Steve Jobs who went to India for some holistic herb therapy for pancreatic cancer rather than an operation here. Oh, you can't, he's dead.

I had a friend go to mexico for a sex change operation. He didn't make it through the psychological counseling here. He's dead too, suicide.

Quarterback Peyton Manning traveled to Europe during the summer to receive a stem cell treatment for his injured neck. The particular procedure he received has not been approved in the United States. I suppose he can afford it since the Colts just re-signed him and agreed to pay him an additional $100 or so million.

Are you trying to say that Peyton Manning is too poor to afford medical treatment here? The experimental treatment he chose to get is not approved here in the US for the poor or the rich.

Although why not offer it to the poor for free, then you can complain about how the poor are used as experimental lab rats.

LMAO!! Can you read

 

[Sunshine]

LOL.....it ain't rocket science. Once more it's a case of the haves and the have nots. Do you think for a minute any insurance company in America is about to approve anything resembling an experimental procedure............NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If this country had waited for a Republican administration to approve funds to go to the moon....we would still be shitting in one holers.

And no government agency is obligated to approve a risky procedure or toxic medicine. I have worked in psychiatry for 22 years. In the early 90s we got a 'new' medicine here called Clozaril for schizophrenia. It had been on the market for 10 years already in Europe. But Clozaril can cause blood a fatal blood dyscrasia. It was not until systems were put in place, here, to be able to monitor and prevent deaths from occurring due to the treatment.

Yeah well......every week or two I see a legal team commerical telling the history of drugs gone astray in this country. Don't shit me....all drugs have side effects and even flu shots kill a percentage of those who agree to have one. Even the little blue pill which causes an erection kills some heart patients who don't get enough warning. If it is something which 20% of the population needs to be treated for they approve it. If it's expensive for insurance companies and only a few people are affected by it...........THEY WILL NEVER APPROVE IT

ONE of my medications costs 100K/year. It is a 'specialty medicine.' My insurance pays and all it costs me out of pocket. is $70 every 3 months. I pretty much have to keep working because if I retire and go on Medicare alone, I will be holding the bag for about $25K/year. So obviously I plan to work as long as I possibly can.

Viagra was first tested for the disease that I have, pulmonary hypertension. It was not invented to give men boners. But when they started getting boners during the clinical trials, the company decided to market it for men who needed to get boners. When I was in the hospital in August, I was given Viagra 3 times a day. Now that I'm home, I take Adcirca, a very expensive newer generation drug which is marketed for ED as well as PH. The drug has been very effective for my PH. And I have heart failure from the PH, but it has caused me no problems. I take it at night. Every night. When I get up in the morning, my lips are so red, I look like I have on lipstick. Some signs of aging are also going away from my face as it gives skin all over, and not just in the lungs, or other 'organ' better perfusion. It is a horribly expensive drug as well. Again, my cost $70 every 3 months.

It is not true that insurance never pays for experimental drugs. In psychiatry, we use many drugs 'off label' ...IOW for the side effect of mood stabilization, or reduction of aggression. Off label use is generally considered experimental. But the insurance still pays, we only have to justify the use of an off label drug.

Years ago, I worked on an oncology unit where 75% of all treatments were experimental. I do recall some of them being paid for by insurance. So you are painting with a brush that is much too broad.

 

[Cammmpbell]

And no government agency is obligated to approve a risky procedure or toxic medicine. I have worked in psychiatry for 22 years. In the early 90s we got a 'new' medicine here called Clozaril for schizophrenia. It had been on the market for 10 years already in Europe. But Clozaril can cause blood a fatal blood dyscrasia. It was not until systems were put in place, here, to be able to monitor and prevent deaths from occurring due to the treatment.

Yeah well......every week or two I see a legal team commerical telling the history of drugs gone astray in this country. Don't shit me....all drugs have side effects and even flu shots kill a percentage of those who agree to have one. Even the little blue pill which causes an erection kills some heart patients who don't get enough warning. If it is something which 20% of the population needs to be treated for they approve it. If it's expensive for insurance companies and only a few people are affected by it...........THEY WILL NEVER APPROVE IT

ONE of my medications costs 100K/year. It is a 'specialty medicine.' My insurance pays and all it costs me out of pocket. is $70 every 3 months. I pretty much have to keep working because if I retire and go on Medicare alone, I will be holding the bag for about $25K/year. So obviously I plan to work as long as I possibly can.

Viagra was first tested for the disease that I have, pulmonary hypertension. It was not invented to give men boners. But when they started getting boners during the clinical trials, the company decided to market it for men who needed to get boners. When I was in the hospital in August, I was given Viagra 3 times a day. Now that I'm home, I take Adcirca, a very expensive newer generation drug which is marketed for ED as well as PH. The drug has been very effective for my PH. And I have heart failure from the PH, but it has caused me no problems. I take it at night. Every night. When I get up in the morning, my lips are so red, I look like I have on lipstick. Some signs of aging are also going away from my face as it gives skin all over, and not just in the lungs, or other 'organ' better perfusion. It is a horribly expensive drug as well. Again, my cost $70 every 3 months.

It is not true that insurance never pays for experimental drugs. In psychiatry, we use many drugs 'off label' ...IOW for the side effect of mood stabilization, or reduction of aggression. Off label use is generally considered experimental. But the insurance still pays, we only have to justify the use of an off label drug.

Years ago, I worked on an oncology unit where 75% of all treatments were experimental. I do recall some of them being paid for by insurance. So you are painting with a brush that is much too broad.

LOL................surely you jest

 

[Sunshine]

Yeah well......every week or two I see a legal team commerical telling the history of drugs gone astray in this country. Don't shit me....all drugs have side effects and even flu shots kill a percentage of those who agree to have one. Even the little blue pill which causes an erection kills some heart patients who don't get enough warning. If it is something which 20% of the population needs to be treated for they approve it. If it's expensive for insurance companies and only a few people are affected by it...........THEY WILL NEVER APPROVE IT

ONE of my medications costs 100K/year. It is a 'specialty medicine.' My insurance pays and all it costs me out of pocket. is $70 every 3 months. I pretty much have to keep working because if I retire and go on Medicare alone, I will be holding the bag for about $25K/year. So obviously I plan to work as long as I possibly can.

Viagra was first tested for the disease that I have, pulmonary hypertension. It was not invented to give men boners. But when they started getting boners during the clinical trials, the company decided to market it for men who needed to get boners. When I was in the hospital in August, I was given Viagra 3 times a day. Now that I'm home, I take Adcirca, a very expensive newer generation drug which is marketed for ED as well as PH. The drug has been very effective for my PH. And I have heart failure from the PH, but it has caused me no problems. I take it at night. Every night. When I get up in the morning, my lips are so red, I look like I have on lipstick. Some signs of aging are also going away from my face as it gives skin all over, and not just in the lungs, or other 'organ' better perfusion. It is a horribly expensive drug as well. Again, my cost $70 every 3 months.

It is not true that insurance never pays for experimental drugs. In psychiatry, we use many drugs 'off label' ...IOW for the side effect of mood stabilization, or reduction of aggression. Off label use is generally considered experimental. But the insurance still pays, we only have to justify the use of an off label drug.

Years ago, I worked on an oncology unit where 75% of all treatments were experimental. I do recall some of them being paid for by insurance. So you are painting with a brush that is much too broad.

LOL................surely you jest

What? You think it funny that I have a catastropic illness? Not one word of that was jest. I have a catastrophic disease and the medicine is horribly expesive particularly the one I have to take continuously via medication pump. AND the pump rental is $110/day. Paid for by insurance at 90%. I have met my catastrophic decuctible for the year and until the end of 2011 everything I have to have is paid for 100% including the pump rental. My scripts are all refillable the last week of Dec. and I plan on getting them in before 2012, so I will be good financially for 3 months of next year. If you look up what I posted about Viagra and Adcirca you will see the indications for PH. It's no big secret.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/viagra-and-pulmonary-hypertension

Treprostinil must be prescribed by a physician and insurance approval must be obtained prior to starting therapy. The cost of treprostinil is $100,000 per year or more depending upon patient dose. Most insurances, as well as Medicaid and Medicare, will pay for treprostinil. The drug is provided directly from specialty pharmacies (Accredo, Caremark, and Curascript) who provide a team of clinical pharmacists and nurses. They assist with all aspects involved in the long-term usage of Treprostinil, including insurance issues, dose titration, providing pumps and supplies, and technical troubleshooting with 24-hour hotlines

http://www.phassociation.org/page.aspx?pid=914

Adcirca is a type of medication called a PDE-5 inhibitor. Adcirca contains the same ingredient (tadalafil) as Cialis, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence). If you are taking Adcirca, do not take Cialis or other PDE-5 inhibitors.

PDE-5 inhibitors can cause blood vessels to widen, which may result in a decrease in blood pressure. If you have heart-disease or any problems with low blood pressure, tell your doctor before taking Adcirca, as these conditions may be affected by the action of Adcirca. If you have ever had blockage in the veins of your lungs, known as pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD), Adcirca is not recommended for you.

http://www.adcirca.com/patient/about-pah.aspx

There. Satisfied?

 

[Flopper]

Sorry, getting meds is not what medical tourism is in my book. Also, getting meds from mexico.... i would not trust.


But i do agree with you. Meds should be cheap here and we should charge the rest of the world up the ass for them.

The US provides a disproportionate share of the drug company profits and research dollars. So the next time you shell out a hundred dollars a month for a prescription, that the rest of the world is paying $30 or $40, you can take comfort in the fact that you're paying the lion's share of the drug research and CEO salaries of the world's drug companies.

i know all about that. Did you read my post above?

I would have zero issue charging the rest of the world the high prices.


Prescriptions are not medical tourism.

Only 1 in 10 Americans are confident that drugs manufactured abroad are free from contamination. However, that's where most of our drugs are manufactured. 80% of the active ingredients in pharmacological drugs used in the US are manufactured abroad. 65% of the generic drugs and 40% of all drugs are manufactured and packaged abroad. The plants are located in China, India, Mexico, Germany, and 25 other countries.

It's perfectly safe to buy pharmaceutical drugs manufactured abroad as long you are dealing with a reputable retailer and that where the problem lies. The FDA will not allow US retailers to buy drugs from foreign manufactures even thou they are same drugs they buy from American wholesalers and drug companies. The retail customer must either pay the high prices at the drugstore or take his chance buying from foreign retailers. Drug lobbyist are at work today to shutdown the sale of pharmaceutical drugs over the internet forcing all US customers to pay 2 to 3 times the price paid in other countries for the same exact drug manufactured in the same plant.



Pharmaceuticals Manufactured in China and India | LA Progressive
Voters trust drugs made in USA, but few are - USATODAY.com

 

[Flopper]

And of course all. the medical tourism TO the US.. for superior care, superior skilled doctors and facilities, etc... but you don't see the troll OP mentioning that

People coming to the US for care are very wealthy.

For middle class families that must rely on their health insurance to pay their healthcare bills, US healthcare is rather mediocre compared to other developed nations. However, that is not the case if you are very wealthy. If you have the money in the US, you can go to the best hospitals, specialists, hire private nurses, and get the very best in healthcare. In most of the foreign countries that provide superior healthcare for the middle class, they do not necessarily cater to the wealthy.

I seriously doubt that very many middle class families seek medical care abroad because their insurance would not be accepted.

 

[Cammmpbell]

And of course all. the medical tourism TO the US.. for superior care, superior skilled doctors and facilities, etc... but you don't see the troll OP mentioning that

People coming to the US for care are very wealthy.

For middle class families that must rely on their health insurance to pay their healthcare bills, US healthcare is rather mediocre compared to other developed nations. However, that is not the case if you are very wealthy. If you have the money in the US, you can go to the finish hospitals, specialists, hire private nurses, and get the very best in healthcare. In most of the foreign countries that provide superior healthcare for the middle class, they do not necessarily cater to the wealthy.

I seriously doubt that very many middle class families seek medical care abroad because their insurance would not be accepted.

I seriously doubt that any of our lawmakers or government workers above a GS-12 will ever have to be worried about any kind of coverage. I remember what we used to say about officers when I was in the army........"They've Got It Made!"

 

[Listening]

And no government agency is obligated to approve a risky procedure or toxic medicine. I have worked in psychiatry for 22 years. In the early 90s we got a 'new' medicine here called Clozaril for schizophrenia. It had been on the market for 10 years already in Europe. But Clozaril can cause blood a fatal blood dyscrasia. It was not until systems were put in place, here, to be able to monitor and prevent deaths from occurring due to the treatment.

Yeah well......every week or two I see a legal team commerical telling the history of drugs gone astray in this country. Don't shit me....all drugs have side effects and even flu shots kill a percentage of those who agree to have one. Even the little blue pill which causes an erection kills some heart patients who don't get enough warning. If it is something which 20% of the population needs to be treated for they approve it. If it's expensive for insurance companies and only a few people are affected by it...........THEY WILL NEVER APPROVE IT

ONE of my medications costs 100K/year. It is a 'specialty medicine.' My insurance pays and all it costs me out of pocket. is $70 every 3 months. I pretty much have to keep working because if I retire and go on Medicare alone, I will be holding the bag for about $25K/year. So obviously I plan to work as long as I possibly can.

Viagra was first tested for the disease that I have, pulmonary hypertension. It was not invented to give men boners. But when they started getting boners during the clinical trials, the company decided to market it for men who needed to get boners. When I was in the hospital in August, I was given Viagra 3 times a day. Now that I'm home, I take Adcirca, a very expensive newer generation drug which is marketed for ED as well as PH. The drug has been very effective for my PH. And I have heart failure from the PH, but it has caused me no problems. I take it at night. Every night. When I get up in the morning, my lips are so red, I look like I have on lipstick. Some signs of aging are also going away from my face as it gives skin all over, and not just in the lungs, or other 'organ' better perfusion. It is a horribly expensive drug as well. Again, my cost $70 every 3 months.

It is not true that insurance never pays for experimental drugs. In psychiatry, we use many drugs 'off label' ...IOW for the side effect of mood stabilization, or reduction of aggression. Off label use is generally considered experimental. But the insurance still pays, we only have to justify the use of an off label drug.

Years ago, I worked on an oncology unit where 75% of all treatments were experimental. I do recall some of them being paid for by insurance. So you are painting with a brush that is much too broad.

Hey Sunshine...

I hope you have good health through the holidays and in the years to come.

All the best.

L

 

[geauxtohell]

Folks who talk the way you talk are Republicans. That means simply, "I've Got Mine...Now By Gawd You Get Yours"

I hate the GOP. I vote Democrat. That doesn't turn me into an automatron that is incapable of seeing a silly point.

You are somehow trying to tie in a group of people who have the means to fly to another country for elective surgery/procedures into the state of health care in this country.

They aren't really the issue. The issue are the millions of people who don't have access to basic health care.

There is a huge difference between 'don't have access' and 'choose not to'.

I agree to an extent. After 4 years at a hospital that services a predominantly non-issued and Medicaid/medicare community, I don't see a lot of the "chose not too" crowd. I see some people who continually get rejected from Medicare. The few "choose not too" people we see are the young and healthy who are caught up in a trauma.

I would judge them, but I'd be willing to guess that a lot of people on this board have "gone bare" from time to time.

 

[Flopper]

And no government agency is obligated to approve a risky procedure or toxic medicine. I have worked in psychiatry for 22 years. In the early 90s we got a 'new' medicine here called Clozaril for schizophrenia. It had been on the market for 10 years already in Europe. But Clozaril can cause blood a fatal blood dyscrasia. It was not until systems were put in place, here, to be able to monitor and prevent deaths from occurring due to the treatment.

Yeah well......every week or two I see a legal team commerical telling the history of drugs gone astray in this country. Don't shit me....all drugs have side effects and even flu shots kill a percentage of those who agree to have one. Even the little blue pill which causes an erection kills some heart patients who don't get enough warning. If it is something which 20% of the population needs to be treated for they approve it. If it's expensive for insurance companies and only a few people are affected by it...........THEY WILL NEVER APPROVE IT

ONE of my medications costs 100K/year. It is a 'specialty medicine.' My insurance pays and all it costs me out of pocket. is $70 every 3 months. I pretty much have to keep working because if I retire and go on Medicare alone, I will be holding the bag for about $25K/year. So obviously I plan to work as long as I possibly can.

Viagra was first tested for the disease that I have, pulmonary hypertension. It was not invented to give men boners. But when they started getting boners during the clinical trials, the company decided to market it for men who needed to get boners. When I was in the hospital in August, I was given Viagra 3 times a day. Now that I'm home, I take Adcirca, a very expensive newer generation drug which is marketed for ED as well as PH. The drug has been very effective for my PH. And I have heart failure from the PH, but it has caused me no problems. I take it at night. Every night. When I get up in the morning, my lips are so red, I look like I have on lipstick. Some signs of aging are also going away from my face as it gives skin all over, and not just in the lungs, or other 'organ' better perfusion. It is a horribly expensive drug as well. Again, my cost $70 every 3 months.

It is not true that insurance never pays for experimental drugs. In psychiatry, we use many drugs 'off label' ...IOW for the side effect of mood stabilization, or reduction of aggression. Off label use is generally considered experimental. But the insurance still pays, we only have to justify the use of an off label drug.

Years ago, I worked on an oncology unit where 75% of all treatments were experimental. I do recall some of them being paid for by insurance. So you are painting with a brush that is much too broad.

There are some new treatments being used to treat some of the deadliest diseases which are very expensive. These treatments combines different drugs to form a cocktail of drugs tailored to the specific patient and the the specific strain of the disease. In one case the drug is tailored to the disease and to the genetic makeup of the patient. In essence we are developing drugs for individual patients. $100k for this type of medication might well be a reasonable price. We may be on the verge of some fantastic medical breakthroughs that very few can afford.