They Want My Blood.

[mawnansmiff]

This morning I got two, yes two identical letters from the NHS extolling the virtues of diagnosing all manner of future ailments by looking at my blood.

Things like (some) cancers were mentioned, dementia and related conditions along with various others and guess what.....they even offered me a £10 voucher if I was willing to partake in this scam scheme

Something tells me if they're offering money then it likely as not isn't a good idea and I should.....and will steer well clear.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but methinks big pharma is involved in this.

Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So for whatever a £10 voucher is, they'll give you cancer, dementia, or one of these other things? Do you get to choose which one? Is that a lot of money? Do you have to pay them all at once, or can you make installments?

 

[BingBong]

This morning I got two, yes two identical letters from the NHS extolling the virtues of diagnosing all manner of future ailments by looking at my blood.

Things like (some) cancers were mentioned, dementia and related conditions along with various others and guess what.....they even offered me a £10 voucher if I was willing to partake in this scam scheme

Something tells me if they're offering money then it likely as not isn't a good idea and I should.....and will steer well clear.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but methinks big pharma is involved in this.

Jay.

They're looking for the Right Ones; if you are one of those, the sample turns into 8 pints and hasta la vista.

A really obvious test that they seem extremely reluctant to do is Vitamin D level - getting that fixed puts you into a much healthier position without the need for expensive remedies. Ah, reluctance explained....

 

[Auxsender]

I know very little. Period.
So here’s a whole shit load of conjecture on the topic.

NHS, smartly, want to minimize their future financial liability by screening the population for potentially costly issues that might arise so they can begin to take care of the issues when they’re small issues and not large, costly ones.
In healthcare especially, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Here in USA, it costs our family $17,000.00, totally out of pocket, every single month, to hire a sitter to stay with my mom who has severe advanced dementia so please know that it could be much, much worse for you. Had we screened for it sooner, we might have been able to mitigate its long term effects with drugs.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

This morning I got two, yes two identical letters from the NHS extolling the virtues of diagnosing all manner of future ailments by looking at my blood.

Things like (some) cancers were mentioned, dementia and related conditions along with various others and guess what.....they even offered me a £10 voucher if I was willing to partake in this scam scheme

Something tells me if they're offering money then it likely as not isn't a good idea and I should.....and will steer well clear.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but methinks big pharma is involved in this.

Jay.

I wouldn't bother, Jay. Even if they did find that you'd get some disease in the future, the NHS waiting lists are so long that you'll be 6 foot under before they ever get around to treating it.

 

[sablebrush52]

I know very little. Period.
So here’s a whole shit load of conjecture on the topic.

NHS, smartly, want to minimize their future financial liability by screening the population for potentially costly issues that might arise so they can begin to take care of the issues when they’re small issues and not large, costly ones.
In healthcare especially, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Here in USA, it costs our family $17,000.00, totally out of pocket, every single month, to hire a sitter to stay with my mom who has severe advanced dementia so please know that it could be much, much worse for you. Had we screened for it sooner, we might have been able to mitigate its long term effects with drugs.

$17,000 a month!! Yikes! We did the same for my mother, 24/7 in house and it wasn't inexpensive, but it wasn't anything like that at about $6,000 a month. Of course, that was 10 years ago, so I would expect it to be higher, but not 300% higher.
So much better, in some ways, to just get taken out. It's what this country's medical scam of a system is designed to encourage.

 

[jaytex1969]

Jay#2

 

[anotherbob]

This morning I got two, yes two identical letters from the NHS extolling the virtues of diagnosing all manner of future ailments by looking at my blood.

Things like (some) cancers were mentioned, dementia and related conditions along with various others and guess what.....they even offered me a £10 voucher if I was willing to partake in this scam scheme

Something tells me if they're offering money then it likely as not isn't a good idea and I should.....and will steer well clear.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but methinks big pharma is involved in this.

Jay.

yeah you're right. In as much as it's not quite at the stage where it's quite ready for market. Close but diagnosing these things by a blood draw isn't up to the same level as other diagnostics yet.
Honestly I'd say do what you feel like doing, but first make sure it is legit from the NHS and not someone else. If it is the only down side personally would be getting your blood drawn.
And by the way medical scams usually don't offer money in your pocket. And legit research usually pays by risk. Like if they offer you a lot of money then it's time to worry. Ten pounds basically says you took about the same risk opening that letter. Could get a paper cut that could turn septic.

 

[sardonicus87]

I wouldn't necessarily take their £10 voucher as a sign that they're doing something nefarious or that it's not a good idea.

Most likely, they're offering that because a lot of people otherwise wouldn't bother because they won't want to go out of their way for it. Similar to how businesses run discounts to drive sales and just because something is discounted, that doesn't necessarily mean it's because they're overstocked on it because it's bad and nobody wants it and they're trying to clear space.

And they probably look at the voucher as an investment, it's worth spending £10 now to potentially save £10,000 in the future.

 

[anotherbob]

This morning I got two, yes two identical letters from the NHS extolling the virtues of diagnosing all manner of future ailments by looking at my blood.

Things like (some) cancers were mentioned, dementia and related conditions along with various others and guess what.....they even offered me a £10 voucher if I was willing to partake in this scam scheme

Something tells me if they're offering money then it likely as not isn't a good idea and I should.....and will steer well clear.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but methinks big pharma is involved in this.

Jay.

I got 50 bucks and another 50 bucks for letting some students take my vitals (like blood pressure, heart rate, listening to my lungs) just because I smoke.

 

[anotherbob]

I wouldn't necessarily take their £10 voucher as a sign that they're doing something nefarious or that it's not a good idea.

Most likely, they're offering that because a lot of people otherwise wouldn't bother because they won't want to go out of their way for it. Similar to how businesses run discounts to drive sales and just because something is discounted, that doesn't necessarily mean it's because they're overstocked on it because it's bad and nobody wants it and they're trying to clear space.

And they probably look at the voucher as an investment, it's worth spending £10 now to potentially save £10,000 in the future.

Oh yeah often insurance will pay you to get certain check ups because it might safe them money. That's why screening mammograms are often 100 percent covered with no co-pay.

 

[BriarBrook]

Just had my blood drawn today for my annual checkup (screening for things mentioned above). Sure beats getting regular colonoscopies, digits up the rear end, nuts felt up, etc... Mind you, I don't doubt the medical industry will use what I gave them for nefarious purposes... I also understand that some people would pay good money for the type of treatment I just detailed.

 

[Auxsender]

$17,000 a month!! Yikes! We did the same for my mother, 24/7 in house and it wasn't inexpensive, but it wasn't anything like that at about $6,000 a month. Of course, that was 10 years ago, so I would expect it to be higher, but not 300% higher.
So much better, in some ways, to just get taken out. It's what this country's medical scam of a system is designed to encourage.

Yeah. It’s utterly savage the way this country treats the sick, elderly and vulnerable. $27/hour is the market rate for caregivers in middle TN now.
The caregiver gets $16 and the agency gets the rest. There is no insurance that covers this and it’s a vital service that my mom would not last long without.

The second I begin to exhibit dementia symptoms, I’m going to hug and kiss my wife and daughter, go to my favorite beech and blow my brains out with two handguns to ensure I don’t miss because putting them through what I’ve gone through with my parents is never going to happen.

 

[dunnyboy]

Is this the blood test you're referring to? If so, it might or might not benefit you directly but might benefit many other people in the future. Not that you should volunteer if you don't want to but it doesn't seem particularly nefarious.

 

[Hillcrest]

What ? No donuts ??? I didn't realize things had gotten that bad there !!

If you want to know then enter the study. If you're generally healthy and don't care ... may I suggest sending them a polite letter declining and telling them Inland Revenue got to you first and there is nothing left ?

 

[Briar Lee]

This morning I got two, yes two identical letters from the NHS extolling the virtues of diagnosing all manner of future ailments by looking at my blood.

Things like (some) cancers were mentioned, dementia and related conditions along with various others and guess what.....they even offered me a £10 voucher if I was willing to partake in this scam scheme

Something tells me if they're offering money then it likely as not isn't a good idea and I should.....and will steer well clear.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but methinks big pharma is involved in this.

Jay.

We have those things over here in the colonies.

Our do gooders try to argue, that such tests catch illnesses early, and therefore save the health care system money.

And I suppose that early detection does save money, in the short run, anyway. If you catch a tumor early, then maybe you won’t need as much care if the geezer waited until the tumor advanced.

But in the long run, it should tend to clutter up the nursing homes with more geezers.

My own grandmother used to announce loudly that every person ought to be shot on their fiftieth birthday. It would save the lion’s share of medical expenses, she argued. Free up homes and jobs for young people. Mostly it would avoid the misery of old age for geezers.

My own father was in his late forties at the time, and my mother would ask, what about Bruce?

She’d reply, not Bruce, just the rest of us.

Anthropologists measure the advance of a culture by when they learn to set broken bones.

All those young people pay for us geezers to get old.

I suppose we paid for geezers during our time, so it’s all fair in the end.

 

[FurCoat]

Don't do it.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Without seeing the letter it's hard to say, but likely they need samples for research and other useful purposes that may benefit some greater goal and maybe are suggesting there could be some benefit to you if they test your sample and look at your results/ markers. The money is just a nice incentive that might get some folks over the hump in deciding to participate.

Doesn't sound suspicious, just a matter of convenience/personal comfort as far as you are concerned.

Your choice!

 

[VDL_Piper]

I once trusted teachers, police and doctors but now I no longer can, agendas are to large now and supported by big cash.

 

[brian64]

I'm no conspiracy theorist

No need for theorizing...there are plenty of them in your face you'd have to try pretty hard to miss.