From the time he was ten and onward, Bill Maurits has lived with Hemophilia B, a terrible genetic disease that causes severe bruising and defective blood clotting (Regalado, “Gene Therapy pis..."). He has gone virtually his entire life having to take expensive medicines and rely on getting blood transfusion IV drips to keep this disease at bay. However, this lifestyle changed in April of 2016. Bill underwent a series of treatments of which would virtually cure him of his disease, and rid him of his constant dependence of his IV drip (Regalado, “Gene Therapy is..."). Bill was apart of one of the world's first demonstrations of this revolutionary treatment, called gene therapy. Gene therapy was literally life changing for Bill, giving him freedom from regular trips to the doctor and a new lease on life. However, support for this medical breakthrough has been split, and many government regulations restrict the possibilities for gene therapy. Despite these controversies, gene therapy has a bright future in the world of medicine and it deserves government funding. The …show more content…
The approved gene therapy treatments in Europe are all approximately one million dollars, an extremely expensive price point for average patients (Johnson). This price point however, comes from the fact that gene therapy is a single dose with lasting effects, compared to traditional treatments, which are a set cost over a lifetime (Johnson). It is hard to estimate what the expense of treating hemophilia B normally would be, with the cost of the treatment and the cost of the gas to drive to get the treatment and even the cost of the lost time getting the treatment. Despite time not being worth an actual monetary value, time lost to constant doctors visits will add up within a patient’s lifetime, and that does not need to be lost if the patient had gotten gene therapy treatment. Is a better quality of life worth the hefty price