OP-ED:
Written by Victor Murray
Air Force Veteran’s Call to Action to Make Innovative Healthcare Treatments More Accessible to Service Members
Veterans gain many valuable traits during their military experience, including strength, determination, and courage, especially when facing the enemy. But once members of the military come home after serving their time, some may face a new enemy that requires these same traits—cancer.
Approximately 40,000 new cancer cases in Veterans are reported annually, and the most common one is prostate cancer. Despite the burden of this disease and other common cancers among Vets, such as lung and colorectal, many Veterans cannot access new and advanced medical treatments.
I had my own battle with prostate cancer in 2017, and if I didn’t embrace the traits I developed during my time in the Air Force, I may not be living the same life as I am today. When I was 19, I moved to the United States from Barbados, and eventually I joined the Air Force–a decision that helped me build a nice future for me and my family. The knowledge I received during training would eventually lead me to a master’s program in public health and a career as a NASA engineer.
My four years of service in the Air Force gave me a whole new perspective of life and the experience made me appreciate what I have back at home. I became passionate about staying healthy and enjoying all life had to offer. So, when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, I did not hesitate to seek treatment. I was determined to find the best option to help tackle my cancer while also minimizing side effects that would affect my quality of life.
When I went to my doctor, he recommended two standards of care: radical prostatectomy or radiation, but both treatments carried the life-lasting risk of incontinence and impotence. I knew better treatment options had to available, and that was when I started conducting my own research. I eventually found one therapy that seemed promising, known as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). As I became more knowledgeable of how the device worked and its benefits, I knew other male Veterans should know about this option too.
I chose to pay out of pocket and undergo the HIFU procedure, which costed about $20,000. It is a minimally invasive device that can effectively combat debilitating side effects like incontinence and impotence by using focused ultrasound energy to target and destroy only the diseased tissue. I was fortunate to have the finances needed to cover my HIFU procedure and to have had a doctor nearby in Houston who performed HIFU, but many of my brothers in service do not have that option. Veterans should not have to come home and have the financial burden of paying out of pocket for a procedure that may be lifesaving.
Surprisingly, despite its potential to lower costs and improve outcomes, HIFU and other treatments using focused ultrasound (FUS) are not widely offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). That’s a shame for the countless Veterans who could benefit from this advanced therapy.
These new and innovative treatments help preserve our quality of life, but it lowers downstream medical costs for patients. Not only can treatments like focused ultrasound therapy (FUS) improve outcomes and mitigate side effects, but it can also reduce long-term costs for insurers. This is one reason why the American Medical Association assigned a Category 1 CPT code for HIFU, making patients eligible for reimbursement.
That is why I urge Congress to work with the VA to expand access to innovative treatments like FUS. To start, Congress should pass appropriations language encouraging the VA to study and adopt the use of these breakthrough technologies. Doing so would give former service members access to non-invasive, cost-effective treatment alternatives for conditions such as prostate cancer and even Parkinson’s – diseases with a higher incidence rate among Veterans. Service members not only deserve access to high-quality care, but they should have access to every treatment option currently available to civilians. It is time for the VA and Congress to work together to create better healthcare outcomes for our nation’s most deserving.
About Victor Murray
Victor Murray
Victor Murray has been a safety engineer at NASA for over 50 years, training astronauts to survive in pressurized space capsules. Under Murray’s leadership, his team has worked on every major space exploration program since Apollo. When Apollo 13’s oxygen tank exploded, Murray’s team spent more than 20 straight hours making the repairs to bring the astronauts home safely. When he’s not working to keep astronauts safe and healthy for the flights into space, Murray can be found playing on golf courses around the world, from Scotland to the Dominican Republic, and here in the States.