9 ms·
You are looking at it from the point of view of population statistics. But from the point of view of someone having only six months left to live, the extra 1.6
by tasty_freeze 3y ago
You are looking at it from the point of view of population statistics.
But from the point of view of someone having only six months left to live, the extra 1.6 months is fantastic. (Yes, I know not everyone gets an extra 1.6 months, there is a distribution of outcomes averaging 1.6 months). The new treatment doesn't lower the quality of life for the patient, so this is a clear win.
Cynical takes are a dime a dozen; improvements in outcome for this type of cancer is apparently rare. Guess which has more value.
- hello_computer 3y agoIt isn't a cynical take. It is the experience of seeing several family members take the chemo, suffer, then die shortly thereafter. If it hits me, I intend to do like Christopher Lasch did--take some pain-killers and go out with some bit of my dignity left intact. I read so many oncology papers in those days, and was thoroughly scandalized by them. Think of all the broad-spectrum bullshit there is in the software space, the financial space, the political space... but! doctors and researchers would never stoop so low?