Why some countries play with their own psoriasis treatments

[jiml]

We in UK have our National Health Service which is anything but a National service with each area working more or less independent from each other with their own rules and ideas.
We pay National Insurance tax plus income tax plus VAT plus several other taxes which must account for well over 40% of our income in UK however if you are on benefits such as unemployed then your prescriptions are free. If you are paying then they are over £8 per item but all people over 65 also get free prescriptions .
The service that you get can vary quite a lot with some NHS areas focusing on different strategies which mean that in some parts of the UK cancer treatment is good but elsewhere it can be what is known as in UK, a postcode lottery. This means that it is very hit and miss with an attitude of quite a lot of NHS staff that whatever they do it is right and should it go wrong then they are not to blame with cover-ups the norm. Individually there are good staff but collectively is when it goes wrong.
To be a bit more positive there are a lot of first class treatments in the NHS but from personal experience with both I and my daughter you do have to fight for it.  
My P and PsA treatment has, over the years, has also been very hit and miss and in recent years cost has figured more and more into the equation.
I have been very lucky when we moved because in this area all the dermatology is done privately in a BUPA hospital by a private consultant and the funding is easier which gave me the opportunity to go on to Stelara after 9 years plus on MTX.  The difference between the NHS and BUPA is significant but I suppose that when you look around different countries we are far better off with our NHS than some of the alternatives
When you get the situation that it is costing £8 plus for each prescription item then you will get people looking at cheaper alternatives in the hope that they will work plus there is always a small minority that believe in what can be described loosely as homeopathy which since the internet is easier to obtain with the added influence of "experts" pontificating how good these are.

Just adding to Dave's description of our NHS in the UK I agree with all he says and although our system is stretched  to breaking point in our area I have nothing but praise for the system I doubt if anywhere else you can get a whole years prescription drugs for £104 that's just £2 a week for all medications not just psoriasis. Now while this system lasts I am unlikely to use a non prescribed treatment as there are so many treatments I could go on yet. Getting away from psoriasis and other medical matters

In the UK if you can afford it you can have on top of your NHS entitlement have private health insurance, which I had while my children were still at home, but was unhappy that when I took it out they wouldn't cover an existing condition ( psoriasis) for that I had to be treated by the national health service. My wife became ill at age 40 we went to our GP and he said it looks like kidney problems. I will refer you to the hospital. About 6-8 weeks to wait for appointment.... I mentioned we were BUPA members and he phoned a specialist and we got to see him the same evening... He looked after my wife for 3 years privately. Then BUPA said she was no longer covered as it was a chronic disease .... I gave up private insurance then and we continued NHS with the same consultant
She has had the best attention she could hope for and when the  kidneys failed we had the house modified by the NHS to create a "ward" in the house for us to administer home dialysis.

In my case I was diagnosed Prostate cancer within days I was in the programme and treated quickly
I have never had a problem with the British system. I may just be lucky or perhaps I am in a good area
I would sing the praises of the NHS as loud as I can because my experience has been excellent. At no cost or very little cost