There is a prevailing belief that government spending is excessively wasteful. Indeed, there may be some truth to this. However, eliminating preventative programs is reckless and could jeopardize American lives.
A few decades ago, government officials considered Medicare carotid endarterectomies (“roto-rooter” of the artery in the neck) to be too costly and unnecessary; as a result, they denied payment for this procedure. Within a year, statistics showed a significant increase in strokes among patients, which led to even greater costs for hospitalizations and rehabilitation for both the government and taxpayers.
Last month, the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, which funds the vast majority of all federally funded cancer research nationwide, was cut with a chainsaw by 57%. One of the programs eliminated was research on lung cancer.
The most common cancer is lung cancer. From smokers to veterans, miners, and firefighters, funding for research for those diagnosed with lung cancer was chainsawed from funding.
Closer to home, Robin was diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer in November 2022. Even after surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, it returned a year later, metastasizing to her lungs.
Biomarker analysis revealed a mutation in her cancer, and lung cancer research recently developed a “targeted” medication used experimentally on her type of cancer.
Because of this research, she has had six consecutive negative PET/CT scans showing “no evidence of disease.”
Irresponsible and haphazard cutting of funding harms many citizens. While we must be cautious with taxpayer money, we should avoid fostering an environment that jeopardizes lives that could be saved in the future.
Dr. Gene Dorio and Robin Clough
Saugus
