Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related cancer for which there’s no reliable cure. The condition starts off as disruptive to a patient’s life and becomes increasingly debilitating and restrictive over time.
There are treatment options that allow mesothelioma patients to manage their condition. However, a recent study found that at least 40% of elderly Americans afflicted with mesothelioma won’t receive the treatment needed to help alleviate some of their worst cancer symptoms.
Why do elderly Americans often not get mesothelioma treatment?
The study’s authors discovered that many of these malignant pleural mesothelioma patients don’t get the treatment that could extend their lives beyond the 5-year survival rate because of issues with costs.
Mesothelioma has a long incubation rate. Individuals may gain exposure to potentially harmful asbestos fibers earlier in life but only begin showing health declines decades later. This means that their employers may have long ago shut up shop, product manufacturers may have gone out of business, and affected workers may have retired by the time this illness starts to make itself known.
In the case of the latter (retirement), many individuals are on fixed incomes by the time their condition becomes debilitating. They may not have the best insurance to cover experimental treatments that doctors are throwing at this illness, and coverage caps may be a barrier to care as well.
Fortunately, there are asbestos bankruptcy funds that you may be able to tap into as you look to cover the treatments that you so desperately need. You’ll want to take time to learn more about these and whether they could be the answer to how you can cover the medical care that could extend your life.