Overview
- Speaking on WELT TV on November 12, Hendrik Streeck asked whether prescribing very expensive medicines to centenarians is appropriate.
- He called for clearer, binding guidelines in medical self-administration that specify phases of life when certain therapies should not be tried.
- Citing a theoretical case of a new study showing about a 10 percent mortality reduction, he questioned the proportionality of using such drugs for a 100-year-old patient.
- He described his father's final weeks with lung cancer, saying large sums were spent on the newest treatments without benefit.
- Coverage noted rising fiscal pressures, with 2024 health spending estimated at roughly €538 billion and higher insurance contributions, and emphasized that decisions on covered benefits rest with the G-BA, with no policy change announced.