Group slams inconsistent cancer care

From the National Post:
Cancer patients are increasingly having to pay out-of-pocket for important new drugs administered in public hospitals, the latest symptom of Canada's inconsistent, often inadequate funding of cancer treatment, an advocacy group reported yesterday.

In 2005, only Alberta formally required patients to pay for some drugs they received -- usually by intravenous infusion -- in a public health facility, though taxpayers traditionally pick up the tab for hospital-administered medication. The price for new cancer treatments can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. But last year the "self-pay" trend spread to five other provinces, said the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada. ...more