Why an American went to Cuba for cancer care

[still_one]

Cuba has faced more than 50 years of US sanctions. Now, for the first time, a unique drug developed on the communist island is being tested in New York state. But some American cancer patients are already taking it - by defying the embargo and flying to Havana for treatment.
Judy Ingels and her family are in Cuba for just six days. They have time to go sightseeing and try out the local cuisine. Judy, a keen photographer, enjoys capturing the colonial architecture of Old Havana.
And while she is in the country, Ingels, 74, will have her first injections of Cimavax, a drug shown in Cuban trials to extend the lives of lung cancer patients by months, and sometimes years.
By travelling to Havana from her home in California, she is breaking the law.
The US embargo against Cuba has been in place for more than five decades, and though relations thawed under President Obama, seeking medical treatment in Cuba is still not allowed for US citizens.
"I'm not worried," Ingels says. "For the first time I have real hope."
She has stage four lung cancer and was diagnosed in December 2015. "My oncologist in the United States says I'm his best patient, but I have this deadly disease."
He does not know she is in Cuba. When she asked him about Cimavax, he had not heard of it.
"But we've done a lot of research - I've read good things," Ingels says. Since January, Cimavax has been tested on patients in Buffalo, New York state, but it isn't yet available in the US.
Ingels, her husband Bill and daughter Cindy are staying at the La Pradera International Health Centre, west of Havana. It treats mostly foreign, paying patients like Ingels, and with its pool complex, palm trees and open walkways, La Pradera feels more like a tropical hotel than a hospital.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39640165

[HoneyBadger]

1. Cuba has a free cancer vaccine

Best healthcare system in the world. We would do well to follow their lead especially on pharma.

[malaise]

5. And that's the truth

but big for profit pharma will never allow it.

[Cha]

2. Mahalo for this news, still_one

Best of Luck to their quest for good health in Cuba

[vinny9698]

3. It is called medical tourism.

Mexico has a lot of Americans getting treatment there. I had had laser eye surgery in Monterey, hemmorhiod treatment in Reynosa, both my sons were born in Reynosa. One cost me $400 for a C section. My wife is Mexican so that made it easy to talk her into doing there. A C section in the US, would have cost me thousand in just the deductibles. I had good insurance but still cheaper.
Thailand has Indian doctors who have practiced in the US for years doing great inexpensive work.

[Archae]

4. I'm having laetrile flashbacks...

[still_one]

7. Not the same thing, and if you read the article, this particular product is being trailed in the U.S

First time actually.

It doesn't claim to be a cure, doesn't help everyone, and is shown to extend life for months, not years.

It has a scientific basis through immunology which Cuba has been involved with since the 80s. In fact Cuba's biotech industry employs around 22000 scientists, technicians and engineers.

This is no laetrile qwack cure

[Archae]

8. I hope they are right.

BUT...

Yes, I do have my doubts.
This is a drug developed in a communist dictatorship, so if the clinical trials fail, Cuba will still try to sell it.

North Korea still claims to have a "cure" for AIDS and cancer, developed under the wise rule of the Kim family. /s

[still_one]

9. NK and Cuba are not even a good comparison. Also, I am not saying that Cuba is a healthcare panacea

I am simply reporting a story that was from the BBC

[HockeyMom]

6. Young Coworker of mine

wanted to go to Medical School in Cuba. He could get his education there for free but had to agree to practice in Cuba for 4 years after he graduated. He and his family did not have the money for him to do this in the US.

Apparently, US Citizens could do this even 10 years ago when I knew him