Priorities

Brown's new son has cystic fibrosis. Devastating news for any parent and it must be a double blow for them both after losing a child some while back. However, they are getting good treatment at an early stage which should postpone the day their son dies of his condition. It would be dreadful if they were forced to watch their child deteriorate in the face of medical assistance being withheld.

However, that situation is exactly what is happening to patients at the other end of the age spectrum. The committee which decides upon who gets what drugs and when they get them has ruled that the initial onset of Altzheimer's will not be treated with medication that can delay the progress of the condition. The practical result of this can only be that sufferers and their loved ones cannot hope for anything that assists in delaying the more distressing phases. And when they get to that dreaded situation, they may then be given drugs which hold them there. I can think of no more inhumane treatment.