Should the NHS pay for treatment for Lung Cancer

[[GSV]Trig]

I know people that have smoked from the age of 14 until 90 odd, he died cos his brain went funny.

There so much other crap in the air that smoking and lung cancer are related but its also down to genetics, if ur gonna get cancer ur gonna get it if u smoke or not....

[RVF500]

I had been out in Kenya on excercise during the ambulance strikes in the 1990 so when my unit stood in I didn't get involved. When I got back to UK as it all ended one of my colleagues had started smoking again. This was unusual in that due to the higher than average levels of fitness required in the unit in which I served most of us were none smokers. I asked him why. It turned out that during his time on the ambulances he had somehow attended an autopsy of a non smoker. He said the amount of crap in the guys lungs just from breathing the atmosphere (I think he was in London) made them virtually indistinguishable from a smokers so the health thing just didn't seem relevant to him any more.

The point is that there are so many carcenogenics in the atmosphere that you can't point to smoking as being the de facto cause of a sufferers lung cancer so billing them for it will only add insult to extreme injury and would not neccesarily be fair.

[Alex]

I love how much like the NHS this debate is... what is essentially an ethical debate has become an economic one...

[nichomach]

Well, the ethical debate is pretty much over before it starts; the NHS is there to treat everyone. The only basis that even could be advanced for denying treatment to smokers is a fiscal one - "They're wasting NHS resources". We've just shown that this one doesn't hold water either.

[G4Z]

Got to say, for a change I think I am completely with nich on this one, his argument above pretty much sums it up for me.

[yamangman]

I'm not going to read this thread in it's entirety so i'd just like to say....

What about people who eat unhealthy food? They know it's potentially damaging.

Should the NHS pick up the tab for damaged and disintegrated breast implants?
Should they pump the stomachs of countless thousands drinkers/drug takers every night?
Should they help drink drivers, convicted criminals, health tourists and Michael Barrymore?

[Zak33]

this thread, while excellent has run its natural course.

The problem with these long ones is that no one can be arsed to read from the beginning, which is a shame cos Nicho and others did point out to me that effectively tobacco sales pays for the NHS....several times over.

My argument is flawed in that the revenue is SO HIGH from smoking, that it does pay for itself...many times.

Closed....good debate....well fought, and with good extra points.

Congrats people...well done the lot of you.

Lets expend our brains on another one shall we ? just gotta think of one