Scientists in France are working on a series of hormone injections that are intended to make the breasts of a woman who has had children as firm and shapely as when she was a teenager. “It’s a series of 18 hormonal injections that must be given over a 24-month cycle. If any of the injections are skipped or postponed then the woman won’t get the full benefit of the treatment.”
Some are upset over the disparity in price for customers of the US Health Care system -which has a significant profit component- and customers in EU nations -most of which have national health-care systems, and significantly more regulation regarding patient care than the US system. “This product isn’t approved by the French National Health Service, or by the national health systems from any EU nation or Canada,” said one researcher. “The patient or her spouse has to pay cash up front for the whole series of injections. Also, US insurers have labeled this elective cosmetic treatment and none of them are going to cover it.” The problem is that the European vendor who is looking to market the series of injections to European women (and their significant others) plans to offer the entire series for 3200 euros, or roughly $4650 US Dollars, while that companies US affiliate plans to charge $14,800 for the exact same series of shots.”
Will this disparity in the cost of medical treatment (a disparity which actually reflects existing differences in drug prices between the US and Canada) be the thing that finally drives Conservatives to support the Affordable Care Act, and greater limits on profit-taking in health-care?