Palliative Care Acts Need Support From Congress

Palliative Care – seven out of ten Americans do not know what it is but for patients with serious  illnesses such as cancer, it can be as important as curative care. 

Curative care is easily understood , treatment – surgical, drug related or radiation  usually, intended to get rid of the disease or put it in remission. Palliative care on the other hand is intended to provide the patient with treatment for the results of the disease or of the treatment, any thing from shortness of breath to nausea, stress and pain.  It is intended to do this by bringing a team approach to treatment and to allow the patient and his or her family a voice in determining the course of care.

All of which translates into improving the quality of life for the patient during and after treatment. As anyone who has gone through treatment for cancer can attest, there are long term if not permanent side effects  from chemotherapy and radiation that while acknowledged have not in the past been adequately addressed. As a fifteen year cancer survivor, I can attest to the side effects and that some I will have the rest of my life.

Last year the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network  set a goal of having legislation introduced and passed addressing this subject. It was a new area of concern and there was little doubt it would take time to be fully understood and addressed.

Now two bills have been introduced in the House and one in the Senate addressing the issue of Palliative Care or Quality of Life. HR 1339  the “Palliative Care and Hospice  Education and Training Act” addresses the deficit in palliative care training offered in the nation’s medical schools and creating an incentive for interdisciplinary training of health professionals. The bill was also introduced in the Senate as S641.

The second bill introduce in late April was HR 1666 the Patient Centered Quality of Life Act”.  This bill complements the first one by supporting the growing concern and demand for palliative care.  The bill is based on clinical studies by the American Cancer Society  showing that patients receiving palliative as well as curative care spend less time in the intensive care unit, have fewer hospital admissions and  experience a better quality of life during treatment.

While the the research behind the bills has been done by The American Cancer Society and the legislation  is a goal of its affiliate ACS Cancer Action network, it is not limited to people with cancer but applies to the quality of life of those suffering with any serious disease.

It is time that this legislation be moved ahead in Washington and we would hope our Representatives would support and become co-sponsors of the acts in both Houses of Congress