An elite healthcare system lets ‘unsuitable’ patients die
While wealthy individuals from Night City can easily live over 100 years due to medical and technological advancements, uninsured people on the other end are dying in the streets, and children because of the polluted water they drink at home. The fixer “El Capitán” sees the solution to this particular problem as a matter of the heart, which is why he earned a spot on the list of the coolest NPCs in Cyberpunk 2077:
Another example of the grim reality shows a scene from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, where David had to pick up his mother’s ashes from a vending machine after she “unexpectedly” died due to her overloaded body not surviving her stay in the emergency room. She was left at the accident site after a traffic accident by the crossfire between two gangs because the trauma team present (the paramedics of a corporation specializing in emergency care) only helps platinum clients.
To survive in Night City, many people are willing to resort to cyber modifications for either a lot of money or a sloppy procedure. This costly decision has a major catch along with the improved capabilities:
The cyberware has a significant impact on the physical and mental well-being of the body in which it exists. The enhancements not only lead to addiction but also illness. For this reason, the number of cases of cyberpsychosis is continuously increasing, through which those affected develop psychopathic tendencies and a loss of their sense of identity.
