Could Shannen Doherty have been saved by public health?

Actress Shannen Doherty He died at the age of 53 from mammary cancer who was first diagnosed in 2015. Over the years, he has been active on social media and in the media, activism to bring more information and research to his illness. But also to make it known that there is no medical insurance prevented him from receiving a diagnosis in time.

By the time doctors discovered the cancer, it had already spread. at least one lymph nodeAs Shannen Doherty explained in 2015, health care workers told her the disease had spread throughout 2014 and that if it had been diagnosed, she would have had many more guarantees of recovery.

Despite the late diagnosis, in 2017 breast cancer remission. Unfortunately, in 2019 it returned in a more advanced state, and in 2023 it was announced that it had metastasized to the bones and brain. Since then, he has tried several treatments, but sadly none of them were able to prevent his death this year. July 13. Now all his fans are grieving, and many of them are asking the same question: would his end have been the same if he had had health insurance from the start?

Late diagnosis of breast cancer due to lack of health insurance

The United States does not have public health system nor universal health coverage. Even the most basic interventions are very expensive for Americans. Some have private insurance, which may be part of an agreement with the companies they work for. The rest must pay for it themselves. And those with fewer resources live without any insurance and grit their teeth so that when the time comes that they need it, they can pay for their care.

In Shannen Doherty’s case in 2015, she explained that she had entrusted the bureaucracy of her work as an actress to the group business managers with whom he recently terminated his contract. When he did, he realized that they had terminated his health insurance when it expired. So until he could get everything in order and get another one, he was without insurance for a whole year. All of 2014. This prevented him from seeing a doctor regularly or getting any tests. review or screening.

In 2015, she underwent a check-up and was diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to the lymph node. It was necessary to undergo mastectomy already treatment chemotherapyAccording to her, if the diagnosis had been made earlier, this would not have been necessary.

Although she was able to undergo this treatment, Shannen Doherty’s complications with the U.S. healthcare system did not end there. In 2023, he complained that union of actorsThe film, directed at the time by actress Fran Drescher, ignored actors who were unable to work due to health problems, denying them health insurance.

Could Shannen Doherty be alive if things were different?

It is impossible to know from the start whether Shannen Doherty would have survived if she had health insurance. It is estimated that approximately 30% of breast cancer cases are early stage eventually they evolve metastasesOther sources indicate a slightly lower percentage, twenty%It can be assumed that with variations, metastases develop in 20% to 30% of such cases.

Metastasis occurs when tumor cells spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. In this case, the cancer, phase IVis currently considered incurable. Despite this, there are more and more treatments that allow patients with these tumors to live a long life. There may be periods of remission, and if one treatment stops working, another can be tried. The good news is that there are many options.

Of course, the earlier cancer is diagnosed, the less likely it is that this will happen. It is for this reason that Shannen Doherty’s life might have been longer if she had been diagnosed early. We cannot know if metastasis has occurred. There are cases of breast cancer very aggressive which is difficult to act on. Not much information has been found about the genes involved or the type of breast cancer she had. Exactly what we’ve already talked about. So it’s difficult to give an answer.

But what we do know is that public health is a treasure that sometimes those of us who have it don’t appreciate enough. Rep. Shannen Doherty Leslie Sloan announced after her death that the actress had “lost her battle with cancer.” But Shannen never lost a battle because cancer is not a war. The sick do not need to fight anyone, and if they die, it is not because they did not fight enough. Those who fight this disease day in and day out are scientists and health workers around the world. Politicians should do the same, too, by betting on quality health care. Some do, others clearly do not. That is the main message we can draw from this sad story.