Drug commissioner Streeck caused a stir with remarks about the high cost of treatment for the very old. The federal government distanced itself. Now the health politician is taking action.
In the debate on health services for the elderly, CDU health politician Hendrik Streeck once again mentioned his proposal being criticized. “It’s not about saving money, it’s about saving something for other people,” Streeck wrote in a guest article in the “Rheinische Post.” It’s about how to provide responsible support to people in the final phases of their lives instead of paying excessive attention to them because of the wrong incentives.
Streeck sparked discussion with his latest statement
Streeck, who is also the federal government’s drug commissioner, caused a stir this week when he raised the question of whether expensive drugs should be prescribed to the very elderly. There is a need for “clearer and binding guidelines in self-medication that certain drugs should not always be tried – there are just phases in life where you should no longer use only certain drugs,” he said on the “Freedom of Expression” talk show on Welt TV.
Health Minister Nina Warken explained in the “Bild” newspaper: “This goal was not achieved by the ministry.” Deputy government spokesman Steffen Meyer also said it was clear “that this is not the position of the federal government”. Especially when it comes to highly emotional topics and in the health sector, it is certainly advisable to “prepare everything wisely in advance, rather than discussing it publicly – which we can now end here”.
Streeck: People are “operated on”
Streeck now explains that his reflex was that prolonging life was always the highest goal. Not everything that is medically possible can be humanly justified. “Yet in Germany, the elderly and very vulnerable are often “deactivated” – not out of malicious intent, but because our system provides the wrong incentives.” Minimally invasive heart valve replacements or fifth hip replacements are too often performed without raising the important question: Does it improve lives? Or does it actually prolong suffering? “Sometimes the greater concern is not doing everything you can.”
According to Streeck, health care costs increase exponentially in the last quarter of life. “The quality of life does not always improve,” wrote the CDU politician. “If the probability of death is greater than the probability of recovery, neither cost nor theoretical probability will matter. Rather, the person’s wishes. His dignity. His peace.”
Patient protection: A necessary prerequisite for a viable alternative
The German Patient Protection Foundation said that Streeck rightly demanded that terminally ill people should no longer be expected to receive any type of therapy. Then the coalition must also create conditions so that the health system offers viable alternatives for seriously ill and dying patients, said council member Eugen Brysch.
