‘I’m back’: Quebec mother with brain tumour gets life-saving surgery in U.S. | Globalnews.ca
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A mom with a rare brain tumour has successfully undergone surgery that wasn't available in Quebec, despite the province's health insurance board denying her coverage.

A mom with a rare brain tumour has successfully undergone surgery that wasn’t available in Quebec, despite the province’s health insurance board denying her coverage.

  • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    27·
    11 months ago

    Quebec doesn’t have expertise with the type of tumor she had:

    Harding-Jones lived with an extremely rare brain tumour called a colloid cyst, one that neurosurgeons in Quebec admittedly don’t have the expertise to operate on, patient files show.

    … an ultra-specialized brain operation to remove the tumour that is only available in New York’s Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Centre.

    Canada doesn’t have the population density of the US. If a condition is exceedingly rare, patients occasionally need to go to elsewhere to find specialists.

    I suspect Americans in less populous states would be in the same boat.

    • Vqhm@lemmy.world
      8·
      11 months ago

      Yea not everywhere is equipped to do all types of operations.

      Shit, in America I know someone that just wants a blood work type test done in the largest city in the State. Can’t even find anyone that knows shit all about the test. Several doctors refused to draw the blood and send it out of state. Test can be done at Johns Hopkins (or other 1st rate places around the globe) but hasn’t trickled down to 50 states yet. Doctors stay in their lane and if you want a specialist at the cutting edge you’ll have to travel even in America.