About the Author

Richard Cochrane is trained in chemistry and metallurgy but is far more interested and practiced as a political and fund raising consultant, writer and amateur historian. He grew up in a Navy family and with his two younger brothers carried on its 500+ year tradition of naval service to Great Britain and the USA then enjoyed a career with one of the largest advertising and public relations agencies working with numerous Fortune 500 companies and many of America's premier educational institutions. He maintains friendships and acquaintanceships around the world. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

See All Posts by This Author

HOW MUCH IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

March 24th, 2008 • Richard Cochrane

How much is your life worth? Juries routinely set an amount for a lost life and now medicine is about to confront it too. Cancer therapy costs are rising so dramatically that later this year, oncologists will get their first guidelines on how to have a straight talk with patients about the affordability of treatment choices, a topic too often sidestepped. The prices can be staggering and the ethical considerations are even greater. A bug part of the debate is drug company profits for lifesaving drugs the peddle. The idea: treat cost essentially as another side effect to weigh in choosing a therapy. The issue of costs call into question the idea of a “non-profit” hospital that pays its CEO and doctors multimillion salaries while enjoying copious tax deductible benefits.

Last 5 posts by

Post a Response

Back To Hypocrisy.com    Groups: