image: ©Maksim Tkachenko | iStock
Mark Lawler and Françoise Meunier highlight the financial discrimination that many cancer survivors face despite being cured of their disease and propose a data-informed legal solution so that cancer patients are not punished for a previous cancer diagnosis
The financial toxicity of being a cancer survivor
Imagine the scenario – the doctor says you have cancer. You face one of the biggest challenges of your life. But you are one of the lucky ones. Your cancer responds to the treatment. Five years post-treatment, the doctor says that you are cured. You have beaten cancer. But there is a sting in the tail: When you go to get a mortgage for that little cottage by the sea that you always wanted, you find that you have to reveal your previous cancer diagnosis (even though you are now cured) and that this will have a negative impact on you getting a mortgage, securing house and life insurance.
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