Expensive treatments cause concern - The Sunday Tribune

While it is believed patients should get the best care possible, health budgets are not limitless. by Kate O' Flaherty

Advances in medical research continually present new treatments with the potential for improving, changing and indeed saving lives. And while it's hard to imagine any downside to this progress, the cost of the more expensive treatments is a genuine consideration for governments and other healthcare providers trying to manage a budget. Two decades ago, many of the therapies becoming available now would have been regarded as 'Star-Trek' treatments, the concepts were so futuristic, but in many diseases the future is here and with it are futuristic-type costs running into tens of thousands of euro per patient.

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