The $2 Million Question.
A mother posts online
My baby needs a life-saving injection. It costs $2 million. Please help.
Pause for a moment.
We can debate healthcare pricing, rage at pharmaceutical companies, curse society, abuse capitalism, and demand government intervention.
And we would be right.
But for this discussion (thought experiment?), let us presume that none of that matters.
Let us work with givens. The system exists. It is what it is. Right now, you are not the revolutionary or rebel you fantasise about. You are simply a person faced with an impossible choice.
And your loved one needs that injection. To simply live.
What do you do?
How Much is Too Much?
There is an old thought experiment: How many books make a library? If you say 100, then why not 99? If 99, then why not 98? If 98, then why not one?
Now, apply that to saving a life.
Imagine a loved one needs expensive healthcare that only you can pay for.
Would you pay ₹1? ₹10,000? How about ₹10 lakh? ₹1 crore? ₹10 crore?
The answer is always as much as it takes. Until suddenly, it is not.
At some point, the price is too high.
But where is that point? Is it when you can no longer afford food? When their survival means your own destitution? When your entire family’s future is erased for the chance of saving one life?
Would you sacrifice your home for a few extra months of borrowed time? Would you bankrupt yourself for a 10% chance of survival? 20%? 90%? What is your limit?
How far would you go to save a loved one? And how did you decide where that line is where you say thus far and no further?
