No money? No transplant, no cures.

I am shocked.

I had read this on Malcom Morris' blog a few days ago

I still need to go on with the transplant to make sure I don't have a relapse so we're progressing on that front too. About 10 days ago while I was in for a check-up I was told that everything is ready to go as soon as I stick the cash on the table.

Yesterday night I was surfing on Dr. Vance Esler's interesting blog and took some time reading the interesting post "Health Care for All? " where he left a link to a NEJM's editorial.

Suddenly this doubt came in my head: in the USA is it possible to have a patient who needs a transplant, but doesn't have the money to pay for it so he wont get it?
I received kind responses from Dr. Esler - check here if you wish.

By chance, David Arenson is touching the same topic in his blog! He shares with us his tragic discovery of a man (age 39, wife and 3 sons) who put his diffuse lage B-cell lymphoma on eBay because of the desperate financial situation his illness had brought him to.

I want to report a small excerpt from Arenson's post but please take 10 mins of your time to read the whole post here.

I will need a stem cell transplant eventually but here in Arizona there is no way that I can get insurance that will pay for one. Neither would there be a program for me in California. But both New Mexico and Texas would cover me. Fortunately, I am in a position to move. Not everyone is.

Googling I discovered that The National Cancer Institute (US National Institutes of Health) states:

Many health insurance companies cover some of the costs of transplantation for certain types of cancer. [here]

What are the options for a patient who doesn't have the money?

On the web I have also found a company that organizes medical operations in India. They promise to bill 30.000 dollars instead of over 200.000 giving you a 90% discount.

O tempora o mores!

Clinical Trial: CD34+ stem cells for chronic myocardial ischemia

Stem cells are beginning to make their way through clinical practice.

I happened to surf on Jack's stem cells' blog, a direct account of a promising clinical trial in Wisconsin, whose purpose is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intramyocardial injections of adult stem cells in patients with refractory myocardial ischemia. This means it's a Phase II trial



In other words, this means taking CD34+ bone marrow stem cells from the patient's own blood and injecting them in those areas of the heart that are not receiving the appropriate blood flow. Wow, this is indeed a promising perspective!


If we want to go in detail we can check the fact sheet at ClinicalTrials.gov


These trials have often very limiting eligibility criteria: this is to get the best, non biased, information from the study which is still a clinical trial, not a routine procedure.


Enrolling for a clinical trial gives the opportunity to access to new research treatments (in this case with your own stem cells) before they are widely available.


I warmly suggest everyone to read the Understanding Clinical Trials document on ClinicalTrials.gov


My best wishes to Jack