A Pyrrhic victory?

Woman on the news celebrating her "victory" over her local Health Trust who had refused to fund a drug treatment for her on the grounds that her case was not exceptional. But it remains to be seen just how much of a victory this really is, because when you examine the judgment, you find that the court's verdict was based simply on their finding that it is unlawful to discriminate between patients. In other words, if a treatment is available, then it must be made available to everybody who would benefit from it - or to nobody. And of course it is those last three words which are crucial. Health Trusts may now well be faced with saying "There is treatment available, but we simply can't afford to provide it for everybody, and therefore, following this judgment, nobody can have it".