Cancer Care Needs Overhaul
June 19, 2001 (Washington) -- At a time when cancer patients need relief the most, nearly half of them won't get adequate help. That's one of many disturbing findings in a new report from physicians who struggle daily with the issue of how to provide them with high-quality care.
"This isn't just about dying well, it's about living well," says Ellen Stovall, a cancer survivor and vice chair of the National Cancer Policy Board that prepared the report.
This type of treatment, often called comfort or "palliative" care, includes controlling pain, depression, or side effects from treatment, such as nausea and vomiting. The analysis, submitted to the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, notes that the National Cancer Institute has largely ignored this crucial aspect of dealing with cancer.
"While we work to cure the many different kinds of cancer, nothing would have a greater impact on the daily lives of cancer patients and their families than good symptom control and supportive therapy," says Kathleen Foley, MD, director of the Project on Death in America.
It's estimated that more than 1 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and half a million will die from it. Still, the report's authors point out that less than 1% of the National Cancer Institute's $2.9 billion budget is dedicated to research and training in palliative care. Ironically, the National Cancer Institute helped underwrite the report's cost.
Among the panel's recommendations are developing "centers of excellence" that would lead the way toward improving end-of-life treatment. Another needed change would be enhancing public and private insurance benefits for patients that want palliative care. For instance, hospice counseling is available under Medicare only during the last six months of life.
In many cases, patients are forced to leave a nursing home and go to the doctor's office for chemotherapy, because that's the only way the treatment will be reimbursed.
"What terrible pain to put people through; of course that shouldn't happen. They have to learn to raise their voices together. It'll be consumers. It'll be providers. I think we are all going to wind up learning how to do this better. We have to. We couldn't really keep doing it this badly," panelist Joanne Lynn, MD, director of the RAND Center to Improve Care for the Dying tells WebMD.
Cancer Care Needs Overhaul
June 19, 2001 (Washington) -- At a time when cancer patients need relief the most, nearly half of them won't get adequate help. That's one of many disturbing findings in a new report from physicians who struggle daily with the issue of how to provide them with high-quality care.
"This isn't just about dying well, it's about living well," says Ellen Stovall, a cancer survivor and vice chair of the National Cancer Policy Board that prepared the report.
This type of treatment, often called comfort or "palliative" care, includes controlling pain, depression, or side effects from treatment, such as nausea and vomiting. The analysis, submitted to the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, notes that the National Cancer Institute has largely ignored this crucial aspect of dealing with cancer.
"While we work to cure the many different kinds of cancer, nothing would have a greater impact on the daily lives of cancer patients and their families than good symptom control and supportive therapy," says Kathleen Foley, MD, director of the Project on Death in America.
It's estimated that more than 1 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and half a million will die from it. Still, the report's authors point out that less than 1% of the National Cancer Institute's $2.9 billion budget is dedicated to research and training in palliative care. Ironically, the National Cancer Institute helped underwrite the report's cost.
Among the panel's recommendations are developing "centers of excellence" that would lead the way toward improving end-of-life treatment. Another needed change would be enhancing public and private insurance benefits for patients that want palliative care. For instance, hospice counseling is available under Medicare only during the last six months of life.
In many cases, patients are forced to leave a nursing home and go to the doctor's office for chemotherapy, because that's the only way the treatment will be reimbursed.
"What terrible pain to put people through; of course that shouldn't happen. They have to learn to raise their voices together. It'll be consumers. It'll be providers. I think we are all going to wind up learning how to do this better. We have to. We couldn't really keep doing it this badly," panelist Joanne Lynn, MD, director of the RAND Center to Improve Care for the Dying tells WebMD.