US ad attacks NHS as inhumane

Thursday, 14 May 2009 4:50 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

An advert has been aired in the United States describing Britain's NHS as a disastrous experiment in healthcare.

The ad - by the same public relations firm that launched the "Swift boat" attacks on John Kerry when he ran against George Bush in 2004 election - is designed to convince people to oppose President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms.

"As our nation goes forward in its own healthcare reform debate, the failures of the British system should have Americans asking some very important questions, such as: who should make medical decisions - me and my doctor or a government board?" the Conservatives for Patients' Rights advert asks.

The advert uses a series of tragic stories from the UK, including Katie Brickell, who developed terminal cervical cancer after being refused a smear test.

The ruling was made by "the UK's national government rationing board that controls what treatments patients may receive," the ad claims.

"I fear the National Health Service has let me down because if I'd had a smear test when I asked for one originally I wouldn't have gone through everything I've been through now," she says on the video.

"And I feel that them raising the age limit has pretty much signed my death warrant."

President Obama is intent on pushing through reforms to the healthcare system, which leaves 45 million people without health insurance.

Tags:
• health
,
• nhs
,
• nhs organisation