Ireland’s two-tier health system is failing public cancer patients, who are not getting the same potentially lifesaving cancer treatments, as those being treated in private hospitals.
According to the Irish Cancer Society, private patients have swift access to EMA approved anti-cancer drugs, but public patients must wait on average two years to find out whether they will gain access to the same treatment.
Dr. Michael McCarthy, Consultant Medical Oncologist at University Hospital Galway, says around 30-40% of new groundbreaking European Medicines Agency-approved cancer drugs available in private hospitals, are not available to public patients in Ireland.
