Cancer patients turned away as sequester digs into

Budget cuts that took effect on April 1 due to the sequester are already taking their toll on Medicare, as cancer clinics turn away thousands of patients due to fears that treating them could jeopardize the bottom line.

Oncologists across the country are finding it impossible to administer chemotherapy drugs while keeping their clinics afloat, let alone turning a profit, the Washington Post reports.

“The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York, as quoted by the Post. “If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year.”

In tandem with the new cuts, two major National Cancer Organizations issued a statement on what they call the devastating impact of sequestration on cancer patient treatment.

source - http://rt.com/usa/cancer-patients-rejected-sequester-301/