The row over whether or not to allow cancer patients to pay for their own drugs while still receiving NHS care brings in to sharp relief the question of the value of a life
NICE in some sense decides whether the value of the extra time gained offsets the cost of the drug – in the context of how much we, collectively, are willing to pay for through our taxes.
But individuals have their own estimate of the value (to them) of their own life; some can, somehow, raise the money to pay for this from their own funds or via family & friends. Others fight hard against their local Primary Care Trust, involve their MP, go to the press
We do not hear from those who accept the valuation (maybe even think it an over-valuation of a life of pain or misery)
And so we get an overestimate of the value which individuals place on their life
