HEALTH SCARE

Posted at 4:20 p.m. ET

Health care will be a big item on The One's agenda once he takes office.  A little reminder about government health plans, from Bloomberg.  Don't miss this:

Jack Rosser's doctor says taking Pfizer Inc.'s Sutent cancer drug may keep him alive long enough to see his 1-year-old daughter, Emma, enter primary school. The U.K.'s National Health Service says that's not worth the expense.

Rosser, 57, was told the cost of Sutent, 3,140 pounds ($4,650) per treatment for his advanced kidney cancer, was too high for the NHS -- the government agency that funds the nation's health care. The resident of the town of Kingswood, in southwest England, has appealed the decision twice, and next month may find out if his second plea is successful.

``It's immoral,'' Rosser's wife, Jenny, said. ``They are sentencing him to die.''

But, you see, dear, you don't understand the system.  It's not about saving lives.  It's about what's good for the whole of society, and the Earth, and the universe.  If only you read the right publications.

``It's outrageous,'' said Kate Spall, a full-time activist who has helped about 100 patients appeal NHS denials of cancer medicines. ``We are not asking for anything new or exciting or novel. We are asking for what the rest of the western world is getting.''

Another one who doesn't understand the new order, the new narrative, the new way of thinking.  Oh, by the way, in America we do get what is new, exciting and novel.  That must stop.

Kidney cancer patient Kathleen Devonport, a 65-year-old retired factory worker, called it ``heartbreaking'' to have to beg her local health officials to provide her with Sutent. The County Durham Primary Care Trust, in northern England, initially turned her down in March 2007, then agreed to supply the Sutent seven months later only after she responded to a cheaper medicine paid for by an anonymous donation.

This is the dignity of socialism.  But you can be sure there's plenty of British cash for "multicultural" education.

Jenny Rosser, 41, said she is looking into getting her husband into a clinical trial for Sutent, but so far she has been told that his cancer would need to advance further to qualify.

Just look at that last paragraph again.  Consider sending this story to friends. 

WARNING:  This can happen here.

November 17, 2008.