I haven't posted on this site in over a year, but this column in the Wall Street Journal[subscription required] made me so mad that I had to tell some people who would be equally outraged.
Breast Cancer Breakthroughs
Women like Elizabeth Edwards have a fighting chance -- because we haven't followed Europe's socialist lead.
[my thoughts below the fold]
The article goes on to detail the various hangups that prevent cutting edge drugs from quickly getting to the market in Europe and Britain. I'm not even going to confront the shear idiocy of this guy's argument, except to say that maybe there's something to be said for the idea that health care is a basic need. Since health care is a basic need, there's something to be said for government intervention to make sure people can afford it.
What I want to address is the incredible tastelessness of this editorial. To use the plight of the Edwards family as an excuse for run of the mill bullshit Euro-bashing! What gall! What an asshole! And look at this wonderful compliment he pays the Edwards family in his conclusion:
The fortitude of John and Elizabeth Edwards is inspiring; society owes it to this family and others like them that therapeutic advances will be made available when they need them most. But medical progress does not come cheaply or easily: It has been hard and expensive and risky for patients and product developers. Europe's lessons show that it could be easily curtailed by poorly planned policies in Washington.
Society owes it to John and Elizabeth! How could you deprive them by having the government intervene to make sure that more people get health care? It's true, liberals lack compassion and morality, and conservatives know exactly how to honor somebody who is going through a fight for her life. Well, they know how, but they are going to make some political hay first.