In ‘Great’ Briton the NHS (National Health Service) is trying to save a buck pound or two and thinks that denying anti-inflammatory medication to chronic back pain sufferers is a jolly good way to do just that.

Tens of thousands with chronic back pain will be forced to live in agony after a decision to slash the number of painkilling injections issued on the NHS, doctors have warned.

The Government’s drug rationing watchdog says “therapeutic” injections of steroids, such as cortisone, which are used to reduce inflammation, should no longer be offered to patients suffering from persistent lower back pain when the cause is not known.

Instead the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is ordering doctors to offer patients remedies like acupuncture and osteopathy.

Specialists fear tens of thousands of people, mainly the elderly and frail, will be left to suffer excruciating levels of pain or pay as much as £500 each for private treatment.

The NHS currently issues more than 60,000 treatments of steroid injections every year. NICE said in its guidance it wants to cut this to just 3,000 treatments a year, a move which would save the NHS £33 million.

Gee, sorry about that you 57,000 that will have to live in constant pain, or go out of pocket for the £500 worth of “private” treatment. At least the British system allows for “Private” treatment — something that the Canadian system does NOT. Wonder which one our Prez Barry H.O. feels would work out best on this side of the pond? But really, saving the cost of those 57,000 treatments is the only thing involved, right? Well, maybe not . . .

Dr Jonathan Richardson, a consultant pain specialist from Bradford Hospitals Trust, is among more than 50 medics who have written to NICE urging the body to reconsider its decision, which was taken in May.

He said: “The consequences of the NICE decision will be devastating for thousands of patients. It will mean more people on opiates, which are addictive, and kill 2,000 a year. It will mean more people having spinal surgery, which is incredibly risky, and has a 50 per cent failure rate.”

One in three people are estimated to suffer from lower back pain every year, while one in 15 consult their GP about it. Specialists say therapeutic injections using steroids to reduce inflammation and other injections which can deaden nerve endings, can provide months or even years of respite from pain.

Experts said that if funding was stopped for the injections, many clinics would also struggle to offer other vital services, such as pain management programmes and psychotherapy which is used to manage chronic pain.

Folks, this is what you get when a faceless, blameless, government-run bureaucracy manages your health care. At least when a private insurer start messin’ with your coverage you can sue ‘em. Lord knows that Congress, in their “infinite” wisdom, isn’t going to allow any of that for the proposed health-benefits-planning board that HAS to be a part of any “public” option. Take a number, you cipher! Iris Watkins must be feeling very cipherish about now.

Iris Watkins, 80 from Appleton, in Cheshire said her life had been “transformed” by the use of therapeutic injections every two years. The pensioner began to suffer back pain in her 70s. Four years ago, despite physiotherapy treatment and the use of medication, she had reached a stage where she could barely walk.

“It was horrendous, I was spending hours lying on the sofa, or in bed, I couldn’t spend a whole evening out. I was referred to a specialist, who decided to give me a set of injections. The difference was tremendous”,

Within days, she was able to return to her old life, gardening, caring for her husband Herbert, and enjoying social occasions.

“I just felt fabulous – almost immediately, there was not a twinge. I only had an injection every two years, but it really has transformed my life; if I couldn’t have them I would be in despair”.

Barack Obama’s health care plan would look at an American Iris Watkins and determine that at over 70-years-old she really doesn’t contribute to the collective in any appreciable manner — so the collective WE can’t possibly “appreciate” her enough to spend the money for her pain meds. Gee darlin’, rat poison or a bullet is so much cheaper — do us all a favor and STFU and either live with the pain or die already.

Wow — Isn’t HOPE and CHANGE a barrel of laughs?