# Is life-saving medication a "luxury"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 21, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490 "2005-03-21T00:12:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/21 "2005-03-21T04:09:32Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’ll try that at the grocery store. > > What do you mean I can’t have free meat and bread? What would you have me do? Die? No, but if you’re unable to work, or if your income is insufficient to live on, you can get assistance with the purchase. You just have to go through the proper channels. Of course, if it’s better, you can go back to the old system of letting people choose between crime and starving to death. Did you think that didn’t – and doesn’t – happen? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/22 "2005-03-21T04:10:45Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > It’s sad. > > The haves wish death on the have nots. > > And they say there is no class warfare. I know. Because the world is so clear cut. The haves are always greedy, old men who tent their fingers and say “Bwa ha ha” a lot. And the have nots are always deserving, young orphans who rescue puppies from burning buildings only to be refused medical care. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/23 "2005-03-21T04:11:13Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’ll try that at the grocery store. > > What do you mean I can’t have free meat and bread? What would you have me do? Die? Um… That’s what food stamps are for, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/24 "2005-03-21T04:12:33Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Thank you. > > I’m a scientist involved in drug discovery. Everyone assumes that the fruits of my efforts should be free to everyone because they’re lifesaving. So, if I had decided to go into something useless, like making widgets, it’s all right if I want to make a profit. But, because I went into something that saves lives, well, then I should give it away for free. > > I tell you what. If there’s no profits in drugs, there will be no one there to make them. > > Believe me. I’m not driving a Ferrari. I made huge financial sacrifices to go into scientific research. No, I don’t think everyone assumes that. It’s also necessary to let the drug companies and those associated with finding the good stuff to make a generous enough profit to cover the costs of investigations that don’t bear fruit; you can’t hit a home run every time. I think the more compassionate among us, though, think that we have to support those who need the fruits of your labors. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/25 "2005-03-21T04:14:29Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > No, I don’t think everyone assumes that. It’s also necessary to let the drug companies and those associated with finding the good stuff to make a generous enough profit to cover the costs of investigations that don’t bear fruit; you can’t hit a home run every time. > > I think the more compassionate among us, though, think that we have to support those who need the fruits of your labors. I agree wholeheartedly. Health care for the truly needy is woeful and in need of overhaul. But that wasn’t the OP’s question. The question was is medicine a luxury. I say that it is. Whether society should step in and help pay for that luxury in case of need is a seperate issue. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/26 "2005-03-21T04:16:16Z")
If the government gives away the sweat of your brow. They still pay for it. You get your money. You happy? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/27 "2005-03-21T04:20:44Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > If the government gives away the sweat of your brow. > > They still pay for it. > > You get your money. > > You happy? No. Because the above system has exactly zero chance of coming up with a single drug given a period of time less than say a century. So, while you get to be on the pedestal of righteousness by implying that I’m greedy, people will die by this plan. We have government funded research. The NIH. They’re not exactly pumping out blockbuster drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/28 "2005-03-21T04:24:41Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > No. Because the above system has exactly zero chance of coming up with a single drug given a period of time less than say a century. So, while you get to be on the pedestal of righteousness by implying that I’m greedy, people will die by this plan. > > We have government funded research. The NIH. They’re not exactly pumping out blockbuster drugs. Huh??? The govt pays you…you being the company you work for. For the drugs they get from you. Right? You get your money right? What’s your problem? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/29 "2005-03-21T04:24:52Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Did **Crafter\_Man** just say that oxygen is a luxury? Oh great, now I have visions of megacorps doming all major metropolitan areas and charging people for the air they pipe in. If people asphyxiate it’s their own fault for being so weak. Real men don’t need oxygen. At the very least, he’s confusing rights and priviledges with necessities and luxuries. Just because something isn’t a “right” does not make it a “luxury.” ---
**Author:** ![EsotericEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e274bd/32.png) [@EsotericEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EsotericEnigma)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/30 "2005-03-21T04:26:44Z")
Neither Reeder nor my neighbor is entitled to anything I create, whether it could save their life or not. And neither am I entitled to Reeder’s or my neighbor’s life saving creation either. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/31 "2005-03-21T04:30:36Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > Um… That’s what food stamps are for, aren’t they? Umm, thats what Medicaid is for. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/32 "2005-03-21T04:33:07Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Huh??? > > The govt pays you…you being the company you work for. For the drugs they get from you. Right? > > You get your money right? > > What’s your problem? I had assumed that you meant that the government should be involved in actually doing the research in the first place. A true recipe for disaster. I apologize. However, I’m still sticking to my guns in saying that drugs are a luxury in the same sense that education and food is a luxury. The definitions of “luxury” are: 1. Something inessential but conducive to pleasure and comfort. 2. Something expensive or hard to obtain. 3. Sumptuous living or surroundings: lives in luxury. I’m focusing on number 2. These things are hard to obtain. They are luxuries. Now, if one is incapable of earning, then society has an obligation to weigh the necessity (is it truly life saving like an antibiotic, or is it viagara that is not essential. What about Paxil? Many would call this lifesaving.) of providing the luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/33 "2005-03-21T04:36:49Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > The problem of adequate insurance coverage for medical issues becomes even more complex if you begin to include mental health. > > I understand that we don’t want to pay to support everybody who says, “Gosh, I’m sad today, so I don’t think I should work any more.” But what tries to pass as insurance coverage for things like clinical depression, bipolar disorder and the like is a joke. Yeah, you can see a therapist and they’ll pay for it. For about 6 visits. Not well, yet? Too bad. You must just be weak and a malingerer. Snap out of it and get a job. Of course, if you can’t, and end up in the ER, well, that’s covered. > > Note, this is not my situation, but it’s an opinion I’ve heard here and elsewhere. Newer health plans are actually better than this. Both my kids have mental health problems, and we haven’t yet reached a limit to the number of visits either of them can have in a given plan year. Other kinds of therapy though… Our son was born hearing impaired, yet does not qualify for speech therapy at all through our medical insurance, even though his speech is almost unintelligible. Same with occupational therapy and physical therapy to help him learn to overcome the low muscle tone he was born with. Since he was born with these problems, rather than acquiring them as a result of an accident or illness, therapy to correct them is not covered by medical insurance. (He came down with an illness called Guillain Barre Syndrome when he was seven, and was completely, but temporarily, paralyzed. Insurance did cover the cost of therapy to get him back to the functioning he had prior to becoming ill, but once he was declared “normal” compared to his pre-illness condition, therapy stopped, even though he was still not able to perform age-appropriate tasks like snapping and zipping his pants.) The school system does provide therapy to help with educational challenges that his disability presents, but 20 minutes of speech therapy twice a week is just a drop in the bucket of what he really needs to be a functioning member of society when he graduates from high school. We could ask the school to provide more, but at the expense of less time in the classroom learning other skills he will need. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/34 "2005-03-21T04:40:09Z")
I agree with the viagra thing. I’d hope our govt was not paying for erections. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/35 "2005-03-21T04:41:46Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > Umm, thats what Medicaid is for. Medicaid is for providing food? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/36 "2005-03-21T04:44:13Z")
I think he was making the analogy: Food stamps:Food::medicaid:medicine And they took analogies off the SATs because they weren’t useful. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/37 "2005-03-21T04:44:55Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Medicaid is for providing food? :smack: I knew somebody would be dense and ask this. No, read it in context. Person 1: Life saving medicine should be availible for those that cannot afford it. Person 2: Why would we do that? Do you go to the store and ask for free food because you cannot afford it? Person 1: Hello! Food stamps Me: Hello! Medicaid! (If you can get Food stamps, you can likely get Medicaid) Duh! ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/38 "2005-03-21T04:46:22Z")
And now most of us are missing the middle. **Guinastasia** suggests that “Just because something isn’t a “right” does not make it a “luxury.”” And he is completely right. By the same token, just because something is not a right does not mean that it should be deniend to anyone. Remarking that your medicine is not one of your rights is not anything like the same thing as wishing you death. What of charity? Is charity the right of the poor? Why must help being given to those in need be termed a right nowadays? If there is such a profound need, why is it so hard to gather voluntary donations to cover them? There are diseases today which are incurable. What “rights” do the sufferers have? How do you define a right when the only criteria so far given is that the recipient needs it? ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/39 "2005-03-21T04:47:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > At the very least, he’s confusing rights and priviledges with necessities and luxuries. > > Just because something isn’t a “right” does not make it a “luxury.” But in what way isn’t breathing a right? I really wish **Crafter\_Man** would come in here and explain his comment re: oxygen. I mean, I could see a radical libertarian thinking that food and shelter aren’t rights, but air? Please, please say that it was just hyperbole or something, or that is the stupidest thing ever said on a message board ever. > [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > But, because I went into something that saves lives, well, then I should give it away for free. There’s a big difference between giving something away for free and selling pills for $30 each. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490/40 "2005-03-21T04:49:58Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > If there is such a profound need, why is it so hard to gather voluntary donations to cover them? How does it follow that more need = more voluntary donations? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-saving-medication-a-luxury/295490.md?page=3)