Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

lunchboxultimate01 OP t1_ixvgsbc wrote

Reply to comment by rocketeer8015 in Human Trial to Regrow Mini-Livers in Patients with End-Stage Liver Damage by lunchboxultimate01

I think your comment is an example of a somewhat common motte-and-bailey fallacy on Reddit. People will often assert that a potential medical advancement will only be accessible to the super-rich in the U.S. When provided a reason the therapy would be broadly deployed, they may respond that the sticker price of insulin is much higher than in other countries, which makes purchasing it financially difficult for an important portion of diabetics.

The initial argument ("this will only be affordable to the super-rich" - the bailey) is later obfuscated by an accurate yet different fact ("insulin pricing in the U.S. causes difficulties for an important number of diabetics" - the motte).

The U.S. healthcare system certainly has crucial problems to fix or ameliorate. I don't think the hyper cynicism of the original commenter is productive, and insulin (although an especially important topic) is a very different example from the initial argument, which is a motte-and-bailey fallacy.

1

rocketeer8015 t1_ixyjvtf wrote

Hmm, that’s a very well thought out response. Do you have a counter example of a medication or procedure that’s as important(life saving) as insulin yet cheap and affordable in the US?

You make it sound as if insulin is a outlier, but I can immediately think of another example with an even wider scope: childbirth in a hospital. Same theme, captive audience(if your pregnant you are going to give birth in the best case), same result, high costs.

1

lunchboxultimate01 OP t1_ixzdu75 wrote

I think you've missed my point. Healthcare pricing in the U.S. is certainly out of whack due to a fractured, bureaucratic system, which makes coverage through insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare important for patients.

My intention was to show the motte-and-bailey fallacy, which was the following:

A1: This medical advancement will just bankrupt families for generations.

B: I don't see why. People will be able to get it like they do organ transplants (or any other medical procedure because it will be covered by insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare).

A2: Well insulin is overpriced...

A1 and A2 are not the same argument. The fact that A2 is correct does not make A1 correct. Additionally, B has not been disproven.

1