This is indeed a touching and heartbreaking story. However, it amuses me how even NY Times chose the “convenient facts ” to compose a “good story”. It also makes me laugh to see many commenting on the status of China’s Medicare when you don’t have a single clue what you are talking about. I live in Shanghai, my Medicare covered 80% of the cost if I get cancer or any other serious disease. I also have a 2000¥(about 300$) to resort to if I desire any foreign or private treatment. None of this comes out of my own pocket. I’m aware that the National Medicare will cover more cost if your income is lower,and more aid might be granted. With the sheer size of the population, it’s remarkable that the country has almost achieved universal health care alone. It’s just understandable that the coverage might not be so deep, but there’s nothing you could do. How will a country navigate itself when it just experiences the fastest growth the world has ever seen, and still growing? How will the government takes care of 1.4 billion people across such vast territory? It’s easy to point fingers when you are ignorant. It’s considerably harder to come up with an actual solution. I know many may not think about this, but with less than a quarter of China’s population, how’s the US health care doing right now?
25
Are shortages due to import limits and regulatory hurdles or are they a product of the same issues with monopolies that cause many medications to be not available or in short supply in the U.S.?
I love stories that are not told within a larger context.
2
It is not a secret that China's health care is not yet able to cover everyone as it wants especially for terrible diseases like cancer and for those who live in the countryside and constitute the majority of the population. But if you look vertically, comparing now to the situation 10, 20, or 30 years ago, the improvement is beyond recognition.
5
Wow, so many negative comments about US healthcare. This after 8 years with the ACA. I find that legislation outrageously complex and awarding of too many non-provider industries, but those making comments that the US healthcare isn't 'much' or 'any' better really need to spend a little time in China. Or even Europe. Frankly, most with any money have private insurance so that they can come/use US healthcare for anything chronic.
4
You fail to mention the americans--29 million-- who do not qualify for insurance. They should be included in any comparison.
5
I fail to see why China respects US patent laws that grant monopolies that push the price of cancer drugs sky-high, particularly given Trump's aggressive trade sanctions. India's generics and price caps provide much needed access for 100s of millions of Indians. China should follow suit, limit drug patents to 5 years, and set up a bureau to set overall drug price limits.
4
Sounds to me like China has "public health insurance" in name only- a billion bodies in this country and there doesn't even seem to be a decent health care infrastructure- if the average patient (rural or urban) has to pay over 30,000 in out of pocket costs that's not health insurance, that's a worthless coupon. China must do more to cover more people fully and to provide better care. Life is so over abundant in this world and yet so cheap.
5
Shameful. The Chinese "young princes" can come here and buy bags and bags of expensive merchandise on Madison Avenue but China can't provide medicine for people who need it?
5
@JsBx uh hello, U.S. billionaires do all sorts of lavish things all around the world and their government doesn't pay for everyone who needs treatment for serious illnesses. What's your point here?
5
Sounds familiar. Same thing is going on right here in America.
Poor people here also die unnecessarily each and every day due to lack of available medical care/doctors, expensive medicine and miserable insurance.
Welcome to the 21st century, where a life means nothing.
17
This story is no different from many in the US. Rural people have to travel to cities to receive cancer treatment because local hospitals can't or are non-existent. Drugs in the US are beyond many people's reach because of high prices. The US allowed a small drug company to acquire patents to some drugs and raise the price 500%. The leading cause of bankruptcy in the US is medical bill gouging. Just recently, we found that the famed Sloane-Kettering was run by a man with a conflict of interest in over-praising the efficacy of a cancer drug. How many below him did the same? The Times could have written the same scathing article about the atrocious state of medical care in the US. You needn't have looked across the world to China.
22
My mom had severe acute anemia and during the treatment plan doc said there is a drug that's crucial for the treatment but it is not available in China. he said but you can get it from black market. The doc is the head of the best leukemia department in the Country so i called around and my coworker in india was able to send it to me. It cost 1000 dollar a month just for the medicine. Over the whole course we spend 300k on hospital bill.
My mom suffered tremendously through her illness, but a lot of it is because the system.When my mom first went to the ER in China for her uncontrollable bleeding ER gave my mom one bag of transfusion which brought her blood count to low but she is still suffering. Nurse replied we need to register for a blood card which will take 3 days. Even when my mom was on the verge of dying, she still has to be in the cue for blood because hospital says everyone is dying, and they dont have enough blood. They put my mom in a room full of sick people knowing her immune system is so fragile if she contact anything she can die. We have to bribe our way for her to go into isolated hospital room.
We are still the luck ones, we at least have the money to pay. when I was in hospital i hear story like this on daily basis. People took on debt, quit the job move to another city so their love one can have one last hope.
the whole experience infuriated me to a point that i decided i would never step into China again after my mom passed away.
6
The problems in China start with sheer volume. You need a lot of doctors, nurses, administrators, and hospitals to provide healthcare for 1.3 billion people. And because most of those jobs are comparatively low-paying, not too many people want to do them. And those that do are highly susceptible to bribery.
Pretty much every other problem in the Chinese health care system can be traced back to the simple fact of how large China's population is.
8
@Matt, at one quarter of the Chinese population, you wonder what America's excuse is for its chaotic and overpriced system.
1
I read this article wondering when we'll be in a similar situation in the U.S. Rising healthcare costs are going to drive us all to similar measures. Also, for all who point at these people in shock that they'd take these powders not knowing where they originate or what's really in them, remember that most of the vitamins and such on our shelves in the U.S. are not regulated by the FDA. That collagen powder we slurp in hopes of healthier skin and the vitamin D we take may not actually be what they are either.
9
Just like almost everywhere we have street food, simple restaurants and then fancy restaurants, there should be multiple levels or modes of delivering medical care including treatment and drugs. It's already happening in real life as indicated in this article in China as well as in many other countries as well, then why not allow it officially. Put away the pride as it's costing people lives.
If China, with its authoritarian government and immense resources is having so many problems, it only confirms that the same coverage for all model is problematic and can work well only at small scale. Why not allow foreign medicines to be sold openly with the warning that they are not approved in that country but were approved in the country of origin. Why not let pharmacists guide the buyers to the best choice if they are not able to get a Doctor and lack strings to pull to get one soon enough?
And if it makes sense in China, why would it not here with sky high medicine prices along with need to get prescription which can cost many times the price of the medicine itself.
Again, it's happening already in real life. Why not let it happen legally. Just give the whole thing a name so that it does not seem that it's because of any failures on part of those in authority.
1
It's a bit surreal to read this article while scrolling past NYTs ads for
This situation will only get worse and spread worldwide as humans continue to have more and more babies. No two people should have more than 1-2 children. The world is already overpopulated. There are too many people and not enough resources. We need to give free birth control to every human on this planet starting at age 12. We need to offer free vasectomies to men. We need to end the Catholic and other religious dictates that tell women to have babies and also don't use birth control or have abortions.
14
@Misplaced Modifier
Amen to that.
"These people have been been portrayed as intelligent, caring people doing the best they can to survive with limited resources."
Absolutely. like copying any products that we invent and manufacture, then smuggling it into the US. Actually, any products made anywhere in the world, if it is selling, it is getting copied, and it is getting sold to consumers as the real thing. I guess that is what they mean as "doing the best they can".
6
thanks to the patent laws which India signed under pressure from large western pharmaceutical companies, India is also going the same way. for newer cancer drugs in India,there are no generics. ( new drugs are given 10 years protection under existing patent rules). this leaves Indians to either buy the ' original' drugs manufactured and officially marketed by western pharmaceutical companies or buy illegal generics manufactured in Bangladesh and sold illegally in India by unofficial agents at 1/25 the price.
5
When my nephew was diagnosed with leukemia in China, my sister waited in long lines only to be told that there was nothing they could do. In desperation after several days of trying, she tracked down the overwhelmed pediatric oncologist at the Children's Hospital who told her that they could try to treat him in China, but if she could afford it, she should go to America (a remedy simply not available to most Chinese). With that she gave him a shot of steroids and said the effect would wear off in 48 hours which was the window to fly back and get admitted to a pediatric hospital in the states. You can imagine what those 48 hours were like.
We were lucky and he is doing much better. We are still grateful to the quality of US medicine and for the scientists, doctors, and the FDA who work to ensure effective medicines are available and know how to use them.
32
Who is paying for his medical care in the USA?
5
@NYC Dweller
Most likely themselves. People sell houses to pay for medical expenses in China.
4
I’m sorry, the anecdote is a man making a drug not approved in China OR America. How is that a case of China’s approval and reimbursement failing its people? Isn’t it instead a case of medical innovation failing patients generally?
The general thesis is fine, China is slow to approve drugs and can’t afford to pay for everything, which is why it’s moved to accelerate approvals and encouraged commercial health insurance to grow their coverage. It is too convenient to paint a grim picture of a “communist” country by selectively including facts in your story because most of your readers don’t know when you’re doing that. Typical don’t-let-the-fact-get-in-the-way-of-a-good-story kind of media coverage.
All I ask is that you at least get an anecdote that demonstrates your point.
6
@Christina
wow, what article were you reading? This one was about desperate people without access to doctors, with miserable insurance and no financial assistance for life-saving drugs. While the USA's medical system is a complete and hideously expensive mess, at least in theory if you cannot afford treatment Medicaid is supposed to kick in. I would say the problems in China do indeed reflect the unique issues posed by a communist (or any other totalitarian) government, fundamentally unresponsive and uncaring until forced to pay attention--often by this kind of bad publicity.
16
@dave
Did you read the anecdote and my comment? I recognized that the thesis has basis. What I challenged the writer to do better on was the anecdote of a man using a chemical that's not been approval for medical use in America or China. That's not an example of how bad China is at approving new drugs and paying for them, which the article makes readers think it is. It's a convenient dark story which, if you think critically, is beside the point of the story.
The case is at best an example of drug companies not developing new medicines to meet patient demand fast enough. There are always patients whose diseases cannot be treated because the drugs they need have not been approved anywhere.
On the broader point, I am not sure how much you know about China's public health insurance system that's been built since 2009. It's by no means perfect but it provides basic coverage for the vast majority of 1.4 billion people, albeit to varying degrees.
You're right it was not in response to a popular vote.The program was implemented by the government partly in response to people saving money to protect against catastrophic healthcare expenditure, hurting consumption and thus economic growth, and partly in response to the financial crisis as a method to stimulate growth.
The "fundamentally unresponsive" government wasn't forced to pay attention because of bad publicity. It was responding to a social problem that could threaten its legitimacy based on delivery of economic growth.
NYTimes: this is of course tragic and horrific. can you also please do more reporting like this on the state of healthcare in the U.S. I'm guessing you could easily find many stories not unlike this one. Americans need to know that this is not something that is only happening on the other side of the world.
42
Un-affordable drug prices, and disparity in health care between rural areas and big cities? Do they have Monday night football also?
29
You are completely omitting a cultural aspect -- the Chinese have been cooking home-made medicine for thousands of years, which is why there is such a thing called 'Chinese medicine', and they work wonders in many ways. I'm not surprised at all that these people are trying to make their own medicine, albeit with a modern twist that they are trying to copy modern medicine discoveries. 'Cooking your own medicine' is not limited to the poor and dis-serviced, the rich, the middle class, the city dwellers and so many more do, for various reasons.
5
@lateotw
Yes and no, no one is cooking western medicine in China if they don't have to. People do that because they have NO CHOICE.
4
It will be the same here as well. As old people will be in pain and dying because opioids won't be available and sugar pills will be their replacement. I am sure it is this way here already. Why don't you shine a light on us instead of China?
22
Wait a minute. These so called expensive drugs are made in India, but not in China.How India makes it and approves them. Why can not China? Seems to be that all ingredients are made in China. Some thing is missing here. Making safe drugs is not Rocket science, especially after its invented, tested and approved by USA, European Union or Japan.
8
@Reddy There is a huge price spread between generic drugs and brand name drugs, which are both effective to treat diseases. This spread is originated from the expense of the drugs' R&D when drug giants create these brand name drugs. On the contrary, generic drugs manufacturers do not cost that much due to almost no heavy R&D on generic ones. China including the U.S. do not allow the production of generic drugs in order to protect intellectual properties and the creativity of brand name drugs companies. India is the only exception to accept generic drugs production which is written in the law. Cheap original ingredients do not always result in cheap products especially in pharmaceutical industry.
3
This problem is not surprising in a developing country with 1.3 billion people. Of course, China has large middle class population of 300~ 400 millions who can afford to more modern and better treatment, but most of them are in the city and suburban. If you are poor in a rural country and/or less developed smaller cities, your chance of cancer recovery is not good as shown in the video. That is why the communist government put priority on solving the poverty by moving poor families to suburban and larger cities and providing better jobs and healthcare. It takes time, and so far the progress is significant.
2
Mr. Zhang you're blessed for trying just about everything to help your mother, Ms. Yao. It's ironic she died from gastrointestinal bleeding and acute bronchitis and not from the lung cancer. Most likely the drugs had an adverse effect that led to the bleeding. The truth is even approved FDA drugs got all sorts of side effects. Just listen to the drugs commercials on the evening news every weekday there is a long list of side effects where the announcer talks very fast, at times. At least Mr. Zhang tried to help his mother.
12
China will most likely ignore this effect of hyper-rapid, at-all-cost industrialization, until a generation has been buried.
They can’t afford to address it, yet.
Can’t afford the publicity.
Can’t afford the medical cost.
Though, they could make lemonade out of the lemons, by establishing world-class medical facilities and becoming the world’s health care provider.
That would be the shrewd, humane, and pragmatic way forward. But the elite may fear that focusing on multilingual, non-engineering career tracks would hobble the Chinese military-industrial complex, and provide an escape route to the West for the best, brightest, and most caring.
5
When I was studying in Tianjin, China, my teacher almost hit a pedestrian who ran in front of the car while I was being driven to the bus station.
The teacher just glanced at me and said, China has too many people. Life is cheap here.
The Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, has a disdain for its people. With over a billion people their attitude is like my teacher's; who cares, a few million less will not even register.
18
@simon sez Excuse me, please tell me how you are able to connect an almost-hit "accident" with the incompetence of Chinese government. If you do want to blame the Chinese government, I would rather think their education system does not contain basic reasoning courses so that a foreign student like you does not know how to provide a related fact to support his conclusion.
4
So people should just sit on their hands and wait to die because an official drug is not available or too expensive? People should not have to "Break Bad" to get medications. Medicine and pharmacology should not be for profit.
These people have been been portrayed as intelligent, caring people doing the best they can to survive with limited resources. How many here in the US are in the same situation and just have not taken that last step? And how many people worldwide just accept a early death due to lack of medication.
I am a formally trained chemist. I have often thought about making my own meds but never did because of quality and legal concerns. As I get older and my auto-immune diseases get worse, I no longer as concerned about the legal. When I can no longer work, I won't care about either. My only hope is that I will be physically able to do what I need to do. I do not trust the US government to make basic health care and treatments a Basic Human Right.
39
Treatment of disease creates profits for corporations. Public Health initiatives cost comparatively little. Rich countries can afford, even base their economy on, the former. Poor countries do well to invest in the latter.
China's population smokes heavily, breathes polluted air and is exposed daily to toxic byproducts of manufacturing.
Beijing recognizes that social stability is dependent upon those health issues being addressed. Imagine the chagrin in the White House if China mimicked India in the production of 'off-brand' drugs by reverse engineering Big Pharm products.
If Chinese mortality and morbidity continues to become the focus of domestic social media, that may well be the result.
16
John, I'm sure they are already make some fake cancer cures and sell them to us and their own people, with no regrets at all.
1
Sadly, the people ordering 'ingredients' online have no idea whether they are getting the purported chemicals or some harmless inert powder or poison. They also have no real way to know what, if any, good their efforts make. Mother's 'little less pain' might simply be a placebo effect (perhaps worth something as that) in a desperate, dying patient.
Likely there is little short-term risk to the Chinese government in this mess since those most harmed are either sick or too involved in the desperate attempt to help their loved one to raise up in revolt. However, as more people have these experiences, they may organize and act.
8