Higher cost of U.S. cancer care doesn't improve survival rates: study

Cancer is a big industry in the US.

Cost of medical attention in the US are so high because of the broken insurance system, nothing to do with quality

Before I read the article I expected some high quality research study that purported to control for every variable imaginable, but it turns out this was done by an author that doesn't even have a phD and didn't even make an attempt to control for anything aside from smoking. Which given the sheer number of things that we know influence cancer rates this seems like an absurd thing to handwave. I would go as far as to contend that quality of healthcare is only a small factor that determines overall cancer mortality rates.

The United States spends twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income country, but gets only middle-of-the-table survival results, according to a new study.

It is possible that patients with lower survival rates to begin with are receiving cancer care at higher costs required to treat such cancer.

It is possible that patients with lower survival rates to begin with are receiving cancer care at higher costs required to treat such cancer.

That would still mean the treated patients are not getting any extra benefit from those higher costs. If the patient has the same chances of dying by getting cheaper treatment then there is no point in spending more and leaving their families in debt.