Duke University Health Systems wants to expand its cancer center and research facility. The CEO says the work would allow Duke to keep up with demand. Problem is, in North Carolina, it is state bureaucrats, not the Duke CEO, who has the final say on the issue via the misguided law known as Certificate of Need.

The state has no business making this decision. Duke clearly has done its homework and should have the right to execute what it believes is its best business plan.

“This expansion would allow Duke to keep pace with the growing demand, locally and statewide, for the kind of sophisticated, leading edge cancer services that we are committed to providing to the people of North Carolina,” said Victor J. Dzau, M.D., chancellor for health affairs and president and chief executive officer of Duke University Health System. “We will continue our planning related to this project in hopes of receiving an approval from the CON division. Duke is committed to continuing to be a national and international leader in cancer-related patient services and clinical and basic research.”

New cancer cases are projected to increase by 21 percent in the greater Triangle over the next five years and 13 percent in North Carolina as a whole. Today, more than 65 percent of adult cancer patients and 78 percent of childhood cancer patients survive five years beyond diagnosis, creating a vast and growing number of cancer survivors, who require follow-up and supportive care.

The Certificate of Need law is a relic and should be repealed.