re: #254 Silvergirl

As Charles says, Big Pharm is looking out for Big Pharm. What Big Pharma really wants is free access to physician data about patients, including which patient is taking what drugs. In a nationalized system, with patient health information collected electronically and in the hands of the national health board, the government can compel this. Doctors must give up their patient information without patient consent, and without being compensated for it.

The next stage in advancing medical treatment is genetic evaluation, and treatments based upon your genetic pre-disposition to certain diseases. In a rationed healthcare system, that innovation will never happen, because it will cost billions to link the human genome data to specific diseases. Genetic treatments also will be costly initially, although their cost will diminish per unit with increased numbers of patients treated.