Original article
Demographic change with an increase in the number of very old people, increasing public knowledge about dementia and increasing expectations of medical interventions from relatives and those affected will increase the demand for options for early diagnosis and therapy for memory impairments in old age. While currently a documented diagnosis only occurs in the 3rd year of dementia due to stigmatization, in the future an earlier diagnosis will probably occur in the 1st and 2nd year of the disease. In contrast to extensive further developments in the field of diagnostics, the therapeutic options are still limited. The increasing norm of living alone will often jeopardize the goal often expressed by older people of being able to provide care in their own home when dementia occurs in the future.
01.10.2009
More than 700,000 people already live in nursing homes; The use of inpatient care continues to increase. The few surveys about medical care in inpatient care facilities show a consistent picture. Due to the limited mobility of the residents, specialist medical care is very unsatisfactory; As a result, there are deficits in diagnostics and therapy. This is particularly true for people with dementia. In nursing homes, the rate of people suffering from dementia is around 65 %. Nevertheless, only a minority receive neurological/psychiatric care. The supply of anti-dementia drugs is inadequate. The low level of medical performance has several causes and does not correspond to society's aging image; It is also questionable from a health economic point of view. Several surveys and studies show, for example, the reduced care and nursing costs with simultaneous therapy with anti-dementia drugs (“Memantine”).
01.10.2009
The Bavarian Minister of Health, Dr. Markus Söder, in an interview with the cover of MVF magazine.
01.08.2009
Discount agreements between pharmaceutical companies and health insurance funds have become an established standard in the German healthcare system just two years after the implementation of the German Healthcare Modernization Act (GKV-WSG). While the discount rate was still at 27.2 percent in January 2008, by May 2009 every second prescription was discounted (48.9 percent). Regarding expenditures (based on pharmacy retail prices – AVP), the discount rate […]
01.08.2009
Marion Caspers-Merk (Member of the German Bundestag), Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health
01.08.2009
With the founding of the IQWiG 5 years ago, the legislator pursued the purpose of being able to further postpone rationing in the health care system by using funds more rationally. In order to have a decision-making basis that is independent of industry in particular, IQWiG should evaluate therapies independently from a specialist perspective. Meanwhile, the drug assessment of the Institute itself is in the public criticism, it tendentious. A not medical, but legal assessment of IQWiG's drug assessment practice actually shows discrepancies between the legal requirements and assessment practice, particularly with regard to the definition of the order and the choice of method.
01.08.2009
The “National Cancer Plan” from BMG, DKH and DKG reads like a 5-year plan to generate enormous needs, especially in the area of medication, to ensure that the increasing amounts of substances in the “oncological drug market” are supplied to a sufficiently increasing number of “consumers”. and that they are also prepared to pay the prices demanded by the product manufacturers, no matter how high, without ever being able to receive proof of benefit. A national cancer plan that serves the well-being of the individual affected and the population as a whole must pursue the opposite goal of the growth of disease and suffering: it must reduce the risk of disease, reduce the burden of disease and lead to a reduction in cancer incidence and cancer mortality through a variety of preventive measures. With such a national cancer (prevention) plan, the profit expectations of the oncological pharmaceutical market would not be fulfilled in the next 5 to 10 years. In return, the quality of life and life expectancy of the population in Germany would increase significantly. On such a central question of democracy, citizens in Germany must be asked which national cancer plan they want.