We spend so much money to save lives. Newborn and adult ICUs, life-saving cardiac surgeries, cancer surgeries, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, stem cell therapies, chimeric antigen T cells — each of these can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for each patient, all to treat a single person in the hopes of saving one life.
Add to that the billions spent yearly in the public sector on life-saving therapies, multiplied manyfold by the investments of (and returns to) the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Saving lives is an affirmative statement of our values and is good business to boot. While the United States is by no means the only nation that values human life, we have, perhaps because of our unprecedented and unrivaled prosperity and resources, taken the concept to its fullest extent to date.
In this country we debate, properly so, whether we can continue these practices in the face of an apparently inexorable climb to fiscally unsustainable levels. Yet we resist, partly because of the billions to be made, but also because the American narrative teaches us that, despite many tragic examples throughout our history, each of us is exceptional, and every life is precious. Putting aside the mind-numbing economics for a moment, think about what this says about how we value each human life. Through our actions, the answer is clear.
This answer resonates throughout our political history. A government of the people, by the people, for the people, a nation based on laws and led by those who guide but ultimately serve the people, is the proper home for a health system that focuses on the needs of individuals, no matter how sick they are. To be sure, the health system is deeply flawed, driven by the twin pillars of greed and intolerance. Far too little attention is paid to affirmative health practices, disease prevention and early disease management across our entire population. However, I challenge you to think of any physician or nurse who has not shed tears when one of their patients has been lost, despite heroic efforts to save their lives. This is who we are. This set of bedrock beliefs defeated the Axis in World War II and has created the miracle of global progress since the end of that terrible war.
Yet, here we are again. At face value, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which will go down in history as an epoch-altering atrocity, can be viewed as the twisted vanity project of an authoritarian megalomaniac. It’s hard to see past the heartbreaking images that flood our phones and TV screens. Without diminishing our sense of outrage and resolve to “win” this battle — though it’s still too early to know what “winning” means — the larger question here is whether the world to come will be one of laws that permit personal freedoms to flourish in our political, cultural and economic spheres, diminishing the influences of individualistic anarchy or identity-based tribalism. This is what the Ukraine is fighting for, what NATO is supporting, and why losing is not an option.
In the world imagined by Putin and his fellow travelers, only the “right” people will be granted freedoms, and only the privileged few will be granted access to life-saving therapies. The money so saved would be diverted to the self-indulgences of the elites. The rest of us will be advised to go eat cake. It will not be delicious.
Meanwhile coronavirus has rolled out its latest variant of concern. So far, we are in the clear, and in fact we will be holding our in-person Lombardi Gala this Thursday evening at a new venue, the Anthem, at The Wharf. The attendance will be smaller than in the past, but we have already surpassed our pre-Gala fundraising targets!
As we enter into a period of optional mask wearing on campus, let’s give space to those who wish to continue to masks. We don’t know their personal situations or preferences (and we shouldn’t ask). And, as always, stay safe and be well.
Lou
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