A New Deal for Cancer: Lessons from a 50 Year War

the 50th anniversary of Nixon’s signing of the National Cancer Act in 1971 as a springboard, Gluck (Yale Law Sch.) and oncologist Fuchs present 19 essays looking at accomplishments in cancer treatment and the challenges that lie ahead. These essays focus on policy rather than science. An essay by Siddhartha Mukherjee sets the stage by looking at five decades of successes, failures, and newly arisen problems in cancer treatment. Other contributors—in fields like medicine, economics, public health, political science, and patient advocacy—cover a wide range of topics in well-documented detail. Topics include inequity and availability of cancer care, costs, insurance, and caregiving. While viewpoints are varied, there is an overall emphasis on the need to work toward addressing the scattershot nature of pricing and insurance, and the causes of and possible solutions for disparities in care between regions and patients of different demographic groups.