Waiting to Treat the Cancer

Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS, shares a story illustrating that even when patients, doctors and health systems emphasize time to treat, insurance processes can delay treatment. He writes:

“But I wondered whether the delays in his treatment hadn’t worsened his chance of being cured. I understand that, particularly in this age of breathtakingly expensive cancer treatment, there is a need for checks and balances on our treatment recommendations and their potential benefit. That public health perspective seemed awfully shortsighted, though, when I had to face my patient and his dad each week as his leukemia threatened to come raging back.”

Read the entire New York Times column.

Dr. Sekeres is Director of Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center’s Leukemia Program.