Extension of Medicare Immunosuppressive Drug Benefits: A “No Brainer” that Did not Happen

[摘要] In addition to having the privilege of serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, I necessarily have a day job. For the past 40 years, I have functioned clinically as a renal transplant physician. Currently there is little disagreement that patients who receive a renal transplant have superior outcomes in terms of length and quality of life compared with similar patients who remain on dialysis but who are on the transplant waiting list (1). In 2010, transplantation is denied to patients who cannot afford their immunosuppressive medications and increasingly for those who have only Medicare coverage because their reimbursement benefit runs out after 36 months.

[学科分类] 泌尿医学

[关键词] Bone marrow necrosis;Sickle cell disease;Hyperhemolysis syndrome