Drug Commissioner Streeck Questions End-of-Life Healthcare Spending
BERLIN – German Drug Commissioner Burkhard Streeck has ignited a debate on the ethics of healthcare resource allocation, specifically concerning costly treatments for elderly patients wiht terminal illnesses. Streeck cited his own family’s experience with his father’s lung cancer, raising concerns about the value of extensive, and ultimately ineffective, medical interventions at the very end of life. His remarks come as Germany, like many nations, grapples with aging populations and rising healthcare costs, prompting a re-evaluation of how limited resources are distributed.
Streeck’s comments challenge the prevailing assumption that more healthcare is always better, particularly when facing certain decline. The discussion centers on whether prioritizing palliative care and patient comfort might be a more ethical and economically sound approach then aggressively pursuing treatments with minimal chance of success. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA),the body responsible for determining benefits covered by statutory health insurance,will likely face renewed pressure to consider these arguments as it navigates future healthcare policy decisions.
During a recent discussion, Streeck shared a personal account of his father’s final weeks. “So much money was spent in the last few weeks when he died. And it didn’t help.The latest therapies were rolled out. It didn’t help. And he spent more on healthcare than he ever did in his entire life,” he stated, concluding, “That’s just the question. It belongs in medical self-administration.”
The G-BA, a joint self-governing body comprised of representatives from doctors, health insurance companies, hospitals, and autonomous members, currently operates with patient representatives holding consultative roles but lacking voting rights. Streeck’s intervention is expected to fuel calls for greater patient involvement in these critical decisions.(dpa)
