DrugWonks on Twitter
Tweets by @PeterPittsDrugWonks on Facebook
CMPI Videos
Video Montage of Third Annual Odyssey Awards Gala Featuring Governor Mitch Daniels, Montel Williams, Dr. Paul Offit and CMPI president Peter Pitts
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
Montel Williams, Emmy Award-Winning Talk Show Host
Paul Offit, M.D., Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, for Leadership in Transformational Medicine
CMPI president Peter J. Pitts
CMPI Web Video: "Science or Celebrity"
Tabloid Medicine
Check Out CMPI's Book
Physician Disempowerment:
A Transatlantic Malaise
Edited By: Peter J. Pitts
Download the E-Book Version Here
A Transatlantic Malaise
Edited By: Peter J. Pitts
Download the E-Book Version Here
CMPI Events
Donate
CMPI Reports
Blog Roll
Alliance for Patient Access
Alternative Health Practice
AHRP
Better Health
BigGovHealth
Biotech Blog
BrandweekNRX
CA Medicine man
Cafe Pharma
Campaign for Modern Medicines
Carlat Psychiatry Blog
Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look
Conservative's Forum
Club For Growth
CNEhealth.org
Diabetes Mine
Disruptive Women
Doctors For Patient Care
Dr. Gov
Drug Channels
DTC Perspectives
eDrugSearch
Envisioning 2.0
EyeOnFDA
FDA Law Blog
Fierce Pharma
fightingdiseases.org
Fresh Air Fund
Furious Seasons
Gooznews
Gel Health News
Hands Off My Health
Health Business Blog
Health Care BS
Health Care for All
Healthy Skepticism
Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma
Hugh Hewitt
IgniteBlog
In the Pipeline
In Vivo
Instapundit
Internet Drug News
Jaz'd Healthcare
Jaz'd Pharmaceutical Industry
Jim Edwards' NRx
Kaus Files
KevinMD
Laffer Health Care Report
Little Green Footballs
Med Buzz
Media Research Center
Medrants
More than Medicine
National Review
Neuroethics & Law
Newsbusters
Nurses For Reform
Nurses For Reform Blog
Opinion Journal
Orange Book
PAL
Peter Rost
Pharm Aid
Pharma Blog Review
Pharma Blogsphere
Pharma Marketing Blog
Pharmablogger
Pharmacology Corner
Pharmagossip
Pharmamotion
Pharmalot
Pharmaceutical Business Review
Piper Report
Polipundit
Powerline
Prescription for a Cure
Public Plan Facts
Quackwatch
Real Clear Politics
Remedyhealthcare
Shark Report
Shearlings Got Plowed
StateHouseCall.org
Taking Back America
Terra Sigillata
The Cycle
The Catalyst
The Lonely Conservative
TortsProf
Town Hall
Washington Monthly
World of DTC Marketing
WSJ Health Blog
AHRP
Better Health
BigGovHealth
Biotech Blog
BrandweekNRX
CA Medicine man
Cafe Pharma
Campaign for Modern Medicines
Carlat Psychiatry Blog
Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look
Conservative's Forum
Club For Growth
CNEhealth.org
Diabetes Mine
Disruptive Women
Doctors For Patient Care
Dr. Gov
Drug Channels
DTC Perspectives
eDrugSearch
Envisioning 2.0
EyeOnFDA
FDA Law Blog
Fierce Pharma
fightingdiseases.org
Fresh Air Fund
Furious Seasons
Gooznews
Gel Health News
Hands Off My Health
Health Business Blog
Health Care BS
Health Care for All
Healthy Skepticism
Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma
Hugh Hewitt
IgniteBlog
In the Pipeline
In Vivo
Instapundit
Internet Drug News
Jaz'd Healthcare
Jaz'd Pharmaceutical Industry
Jim Edwards' NRx
Kaus Files
KevinMD
Laffer Health Care Report
Little Green Footballs
Med Buzz
Media Research Center
Medrants
More than Medicine
National Review
Neuroethics & Law
Newsbusters
Nurses For Reform
Nurses For Reform Blog
Opinion Journal
Orange Book
PAL
Peter Rost
Pharm Aid
Pharma Blog Review
Pharma Blogsphere
Pharma Marketing Blog
Pharmablogger
Pharmacology Corner
Pharmagossip
Pharmamotion
Pharmalot
Pharmaceutical Business Review
Piper Report
Polipundit
Powerline
Prescription for a Cure
Public Plan Facts
Quackwatch
Real Clear Politics
Remedyhealthcare
Shark Report
Shearlings Got Plowed
StateHouseCall.org
Taking Back America
Terra Sigillata
The Cycle
The Catalyst
The Lonely Conservative
TortsProf
Town Hall
Washington Monthly
World of DTC Marketing
WSJ Health Blog
DrugWonks Blog
09/05/2007 08:00 AM |
News from today's meeting of the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2007 (also in The British Journal of Cardiology) -- An observational study of a large United Kingdom primary care database showed that patients who were switched from established Lipitor therapy to generic simvastatin experienced a 30% increase in relative risk of cardiovascular events or death compared to patients who remained on Lipitor therapy.
The study was conducted by, among others, scientists from Pfizer.
The data, which included records from October 1997 to June 2005, were generated from a retrospective analysis of a medical database of anonymous patient records entered by general practitioners in the United Kingdom known as The Health Improvement Network (THIN).
The analysis included 11,520 patients (2,511 patients who had taken Lipitor for six months or more and were switched to simvastatin vs. 9,009 patients who were taking Lipitor for six months or more and then remained on Lipitor therapy).
While the reasons these patients were switched is not known -- it is certainly not inconceivable that it might have had something to do with ... short term costs to the system. Another example of cost-based medcine trumping patient-centric care.
“Today, many health care payors including governments and managed care companies are encouraging patients who are well-established on one therapy to switch to a different statin therapy,†said Dr. Michael Berelowitz, senior vice president of Pfizer’s global medical division. “This study raises concerns about those policies. It suggests the potential for poorer cardiovascular outcomes associated with switching patients from established Lipitor therapy to simvastatin.â€
A secondary analysis of the same data showed that patients who were switched from Lipitor to generic simvastatin were more than twice as likely to discontinue their treatment compared to those who remained on Lipitor therapy (20.5 percent versus 7.62 percent, p<0.001). The reasons for discontinuation were not available from the database, though disruption in treatment has been associated with poor adherence in previous studies of statins and other medications.
And we strongly support Dr. Berelowitz's statement that, “Observational studies help the medical community better appreciate what is really happening in doctors’ offices, and are commonly used by healthcare payors to set medical practice guidelines. This analysis highlights the need to carefully consider individual patient circumstances and cardiovascular risk because indiscriminate switching may adversely affect some patients.â€
Here is a link to the poster presentation:
Download file
Power to the Physician! Power to the Patient! THIN is in. Read More & Comment...
The study was conducted by, among others, scientists from Pfizer.
The data, which included records from October 1997 to June 2005, were generated from a retrospective analysis of a medical database of anonymous patient records entered by general practitioners in the United Kingdom known as The Health Improvement Network (THIN).
The analysis included 11,520 patients (2,511 patients who had taken Lipitor for six months or more and were switched to simvastatin vs. 9,009 patients who were taking Lipitor for six months or more and then remained on Lipitor therapy).
While the reasons these patients were switched is not known -- it is certainly not inconceivable that it might have had something to do with ... short term costs to the system. Another example of cost-based medcine trumping patient-centric care.
“Today, many health care payors including governments and managed care companies are encouraging patients who are well-established on one therapy to switch to a different statin therapy,†said Dr. Michael Berelowitz, senior vice president of Pfizer’s global medical division. “This study raises concerns about those policies. It suggests the potential for poorer cardiovascular outcomes associated with switching patients from established Lipitor therapy to simvastatin.â€
A secondary analysis of the same data showed that patients who were switched from Lipitor to generic simvastatin were more than twice as likely to discontinue their treatment compared to those who remained on Lipitor therapy (20.5 percent versus 7.62 percent, p<0.001). The reasons for discontinuation were not available from the database, though disruption in treatment has been associated with poor adherence in previous studies of statins and other medications.
And we strongly support Dr. Berelowitz's statement that, “Observational studies help the medical community better appreciate what is really happening in doctors’ offices, and are commonly used by healthcare payors to set medical practice guidelines. This analysis highlights the need to carefully consider individual patient circumstances and cardiovascular risk because indiscriminate switching may adversely affect some patients.â€
Here is a link to the poster presentation:
Download file
Power to the Physician! Power to the Patient! THIN is in. Read More & Comment...
09/05/2007 07:27 AM |
Whose giving what to whom? Well, since you asked ...
According to the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, the research arm of the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC compiled the research report in concert with the release of director Michael Moore's SiCKO, so consider the source), Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have accepted more than $3.7 million in campaign contributions this year from health-care industry sources, with more than 45% of the money going to just two candidates, Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Overall, health-care contributions to the 18 announced Republican and Democratic presidential candidates total an aggregate $12.8 million since 1989--with 29% of that total donated just in the first quarter of 2007.
Ms. Clinton topped the recipient list with $868,722, which is 23% of all the health-care money donated to candidates this year. Mr. Romney was a close second at $833,385, which is 22% of the total. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., received 15% of the total, or $574,268; Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., received 11%, or $423,751; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani also received 11%, or $408,822; and former Senator John Edwards received 6%, or $222,950.
For more on this and come choice comments on SiCKO, click on this link:
Download file
And, remember -- it's not what you say ... it's what you don't say. Read More & Comment...
According to the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, the research arm of the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC compiled the research report in concert with the release of director Michael Moore's SiCKO, so consider the source), Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have accepted more than $3.7 million in campaign contributions this year from health-care industry sources, with more than 45% of the money going to just two candidates, Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Overall, health-care contributions to the 18 announced Republican and Democratic presidential candidates total an aggregate $12.8 million since 1989--with 29% of that total donated just in the first quarter of 2007.
Ms. Clinton topped the recipient list with $868,722, which is 23% of all the health-care money donated to candidates this year. Mr. Romney was a close second at $833,385, which is 22% of the total. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., received 15% of the total, or $574,268; Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., received 11%, or $423,751; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani also received 11%, or $408,822; and former Senator John Edwards received 6%, or $222,950.
For more on this and come choice comments on SiCKO, click on this link:
Download file
And, remember -- it's not what you say ... it's what you don't say. Read More & Comment...
09/04/2007 03:10 PM |
Adult women are more than twice as likely to know how much they weighed in high school as they are to know their current cholesterol number, and only half of women have had their cholesterol tested in the past year, according to the results of a nationwide survey released today.
Why do you think this is?
Here's a link to an article about the study
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=28935
And for the clueless and cave dwellers here's a link to the infamous Q and A with the young lady who is the most famous person in US/America, at least for now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww Read More & Comment...
Why do you think this is?
Here's a link to an article about the study
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=28935
And for the clueless and cave dwellers here's a link to the infamous Q and A with the young lady who is the most famous person in US/America, at least for now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww Read More & Comment...
09/04/2007 10:26 AM |
First research comes out showing that women need different treatment than men for heart disease. Then a study comes out show thousands of new lung cancer tumors -- with unique subgroupings based on pathogenesis -- will extend treatment to thousands. Now this from the Venter Institute a new genome sequence refining and identifying more precisely that humant to human variation in response to disease and medicines.
Why does the Agency for Health Care Qualty and Research still spend a dime on dross from the Drug Effectiveness Research Project which does nothing but catalogue outdated data? Why would the Bush Administration pave the way for single payer health care with a one size fits all coverage decision on blood boosting drugs that will be used differently in differnt people?
Do insurance companies really think they are going to get a comparative effectiveness board of the ground in the face of the individualizaation of medicine?
Comparative effectiveness is rationing in health economist clothing. To suggest it promotes "best practice" (Hillary) or increases value to the patient are ignoring the rapid changes in medical science and the heavy handedness of their own methods which are driven more by a hatred of drug companies than a concern for patients.
I woud be happy to debate anyone, anytime, anywhere on this subject. But I don't think they (and they know who "they" are) will. Because they are not interested in advancing well-being because it will obviously lead to an increase in the use of most new drugs and devices. They are interested in legislative victories and cost containment in the short term.
For more info about the Venter breakthrough go to http://www.JCVI.org. Read More & Comment...
Why does the Agency for Health Care Qualty and Research still spend a dime on dross from the Drug Effectiveness Research Project which does nothing but catalogue outdated data? Why would the Bush Administration pave the way for single payer health care with a one size fits all coverage decision on blood boosting drugs that will be used differently in differnt people?
Do insurance companies really think they are going to get a comparative effectiveness board of the ground in the face of the individualizaation of medicine?
Comparative effectiveness is rationing in health economist clothing. To suggest it promotes "best practice" (Hillary) or increases value to the patient are ignoring the rapid changes in medical science and the heavy handedness of their own methods which are driven more by a hatred of drug companies than a concern for patients.
I woud be happy to debate anyone, anytime, anywhere on this subject. But I don't think they (and they know who "they" are) will. Because they are not interested in advancing well-being because it will obviously lead to an increase in the use of most new drugs and devices. They are interested in legislative victories and cost containment in the short term.
For more info about the Venter breakthrough go to http://www.JCVI.org. Read More & Comment...
09/04/2007 07:10 AM |
In his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Scott Gottlieb reveals how government-run comparative studies reflect a desire to focus on cost rather than care – and not (as often claimed) to usher in an era of science-based efficiency in medicine.
The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest recently held a conference on large scale comparative effectiveness studies. (Report can be found at http://cmpi.org/archives/2007/08/new_cmpi_report.php) As Gottlieb mentioned, one government study (ALLHAT) didn’t prove its hypothesis that older drugs are more effective in controlling blood pressure.
At the CMPI conference Dr. Michael Weber (an original member of the ALLHAT team) revealed that “ALLHAT exposed African-American patients for several years to treatments investigators knew would not be effective in controlling their blood pressure -- something so unethical that if a pharmaceutical company had done it or any of us as individual academics had done it, we would not only be thrown out of our jobs, we would be pilloried and maybe even be facing criminal charges. The study was driven entirely by a 40% excess stroke rate in black patients that was predictable before the study began. And they used that as their reason to claim superiority of the diuretic.â€
The government ran a study denying African Americans needed care to make a political point: cheaper drugs are better. Because ALLHAT is perceived as anti-industry no one cares if the regimen harms people. Is this the kind of comparative effectiveness we want – or that patient’s need? Read More & Comment...
The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest recently held a conference on large scale comparative effectiveness studies. (Report can be found at http://cmpi.org/archives/2007/08/new_cmpi_report.php) As Gottlieb mentioned, one government study (ALLHAT) didn’t prove its hypothesis that older drugs are more effective in controlling blood pressure.
At the CMPI conference Dr. Michael Weber (an original member of the ALLHAT team) revealed that “ALLHAT exposed African-American patients for several years to treatments investigators knew would not be effective in controlling their blood pressure -- something so unethical that if a pharmaceutical company had done it or any of us as individual academics had done it, we would not only be thrown out of our jobs, we would be pilloried and maybe even be facing criminal charges. The study was driven entirely by a 40% excess stroke rate in black patients that was predictable before the study began. And they used that as their reason to claim superiority of the diuretic.â€
The government ran a study denying African Americans needed care to make a political point: cheaper drugs are better. Because ALLHAT is perceived as anti-industry no one cares if the regimen harms people. Is this the kind of comparative effectiveness we want – or that patient’s need? Read More & Comment...
09/03/2007 08:37 PM |
I am sure the black helicopter types who believe drug companies are actually colluding in ways to medicate children for mental illness...but is there any self-respecting psychiatrist who would actually fit this statement from an AP article on the increase in diagnoses for pediatric manic depression.
"Some doctors believe bipolar disorder doesn't occur in children, and until last month there was only one drug approved to treat the illness in kids."
The reporter never identifies those scholars. And then to link this statement with the fact that most pediatric drugs are used off-label. (Better to treat and observe than use kids as lab rats)
Yeah, and there are no drugs approved to treat stomach cancer in kids but they use them anyways.
Here's the entire article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070903/ap_on_he_me/bipolar_kids_3 Read More & Comment...
"Some doctors believe bipolar disorder doesn't occur in children, and until last month there was only one drug approved to treat the illness in kids."
The reporter never identifies those scholars. And then to link this statement with the fact that most pediatric drugs are used off-label. (Better to treat and observe than use kids as lab rats)
Yeah, and there are no drugs approved to treat stomach cancer in kids but they use them anyways.
Here's the entire article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070903/ap_on_he_me/bipolar_kids_3 Read More & Comment...
08/31/2007 01:01 PM |
If you decided to use MapQuest for directions to better drug safety ideas, it might very well direct you to the intersection of Information and Engagement.
Nowhere is this made more clear than with a new program called iGuard. According to their website (http://www.iguard.org):
"iGuard is the fastest and easiest way for you to get personalized alerts and updates on the safety of your medicines.
We are the catalyst for the new conversation among patients, physicians, pharmacists, drug researchers and the government. Launched in 2007 as a startup venture funded by Quintiles Transnational, "iGuard puts the power of drug safety in the hands of each American, right where it should be," states Dr. Hugo Stephenson, founder and president of iGuard.
We facilitate the virtual flow of communication among patients, physicians, and researchers according to two guiding principles:
With iGuard, patients can feel safer because they will be sent the drug safety information they need, when they need it.
The more people that join iGuard, the faster we can help researchers identify safety problems - and communicate this information back to patients, caregivers, and their providers."
It's worth a look -- because it provides a hopeful glimpse into the future of drug safety.
I have seen the future -- and it is collaborative. Read More & Comment...
Nowhere is this made more clear than with a new program called iGuard. According to their website (http://www.iguard.org):
"iGuard is the fastest and easiest way for you to get personalized alerts and updates on the safety of your medicines.
We are the catalyst for the new conversation among patients, physicians, pharmacists, drug researchers and the government. Launched in 2007 as a startup venture funded by Quintiles Transnational, "iGuard puts the power of drug safety in the hands of each American, right where it should be," states Dr. Hugo Stephenson, founder and president of iGuard.
We facilitate the virtual flow of communication among patients, physicians, and researchers according to two guiding principles:
With iGuard, patients can feel safer because they will be sent the drug safety information they need, when they need it.
The more people that join iGuard, the faster we can help researchers identify safety problems - and communicate this information back to patients, caregivers, and their providers."
It's worth a look -- because it provides a hopeful glimpse into the future of drug safety.
I have seen the future -- and it is collaborative. Read More & Comment...
08/30/2007 09:00 AM |
And ALLHAT Jazz too.
Important op-ed by Scott Gottlieb in today's Wall Street Journal on the continuing jihad against incremental innovation via poorly designed studies and slanted reporting thereof.
As Scott writes:
"The difficult nature of these "comparative" drug studies, the sort contemplated in Schip, requires more care, not less. These studies are hard to execute by their nature, a fact given short shrift by policy makers who believe the conclusions gleaned from the research will provide immediate cost savings.
For one thing, as the Allhat study proved, detecting small clinical differences between two active drugs, such as whether one pill lowers blood pressure more than another, requires very large studies that often fail to capture all of the patient preferences and characteristics that go into real world medical decisions. And once the study is completed, determining whether small differences are clinically meaningful can take years of follow up.
When the trials are under-funded and too small, or are poorly designed or conducted, important differences are not detected, which supports the theory that older drugs are as good as newer ones even if that is not true. This flawed science seems just fine with those who support these trials largely for cost purposes."
And many top clinical experts agree. Click on the link below and see what Hebert Meltzer, MD who helped to design CATIE, Michael Weber, MD, similarly involved with ALLHAT, Dr. Susan Horn of the Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, Dr. David Shern, President and CEO of the National Mental Health Association, Ralph Snyderman, MD of Duke University have to say on the topic.
Download file
No matter how you cut it, evidence-based medicine based on bad evidence is bad medicine. This language disintermediates physicians, hurts patients and helps nobody other than payors (both public and private).
And that's not public health -- it's politics Read More & Comment...
Important op-ed by Scott Gottlieb in today's Wall Street Journal on the continuing jihad against incremental innovation via poorly designed studies and slanted reporting thereof.
As Scott writes:
"The difficult nature of these "comparative" drug studies, the sort contemplated in Schip, requires more care, not less. These studies are hard to execute by their nature, a fact given short shrift by policy makers who believe the conclusions gleaned from the research will provide immediate cost savings.
For one thing, as the Allhat study proved, detecting small clinical differences between two active drugs, such as whether one pill lowers blood pressure more than another, requires very large studies that often fail to capture all of the patient preferences and characteristics that go into real world medical decisions. And once the study is completed, determining whether small differences are clinically meaningful can take years of follow up.
When the trials are under-funded and too small, or are poorly designed or conducted, important differences are not detected, which supports the theory that older drugs are as good as newer ones even if that is not true. This flawed science seems just fine with those who support these trials largely for cost purposes."
And many top clinical experts agree. Click on the link below and see what Hebert Meltzer, MD who helped to design CATIE, Michael Weber, MD, similarly involved with ALLHAT, Dr. Susan Horn of the Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, Dr. David Shern, President and CEO of the National Mental Health Association, Ralph Snyderman, MD of Duke University have to say on the topic.
Download file
No matter how you cut it, evidence-based medicine based on bad evidence is bad medicine. This language disintermediates physicians, hurts patients and helps nobody other than payors (both public and private).
And that's not public health -- it's politics Read More & Comment...
08/29/2007 06:10 AM |
Here's a really superb example of health care grass roots "social marketing" -- made all the more exciting since it bubbled up all by itself ...
http://nocnews.blogspot.com/2007/08/healthcare-prescriptions-and-insurance.html
And in case you cannot link to the Pharmaceutical Executive article mentioned there, here's a better link ...
http://cmpi.org/archives/2007/08/opinion_fewer_cents_more_sense.php
(And, yes, it's the same Nazareth that's in The Band song "The Weight.")
Pulled into Nazareth ... Read More & Comment...
http://nocnews.blogspot.com/2007/08/healthcare-prescriptions-and-insurance.html
And in case you cannot link to the Pharmaceutical Executive article mentioned there, here's a better link ...
http://cmpi.org/archives/2007/08/opinion_fewer_cents_more_sense.php
(And, yes, it's the same Nazareth that's in The Band song "The Weight.")
Pulled into Nazareth ... Read More & Comment...
08/28/2007 11:56 AM |
Oh, and the percentage of poor kids without health care coverage, the ones already eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP increased.
So, of course, the solution is to expand government coverage to rich white families.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/news_conferences/010500.html Read More & Comment...
So, of course, the solution is to expand government coverage to rich white families.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/news_conferences/010500.html Read More & Comment...
08/28/2007 11:41 AM |
Carol Crim is not a name you will read about in the newspapers, although perhaps now you will read her obituary. But no tribute, no matter how well written, could possibly capture the impact this elegant lady had on America's health -- and on me personally.
I knew Carol in her role as executive secretary to Mark McClellan when he was FDA Commissioner. But she had served other Commissioners before him. She represented the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner, and the FDA to a wide variety of people both inside and outside of government, regardless of political affiliation, nationality, or degree of scientific standing with something so crucial, yet so lacking in so much of Washington, DC today. Class.
Those who knew her and worked along side her know what I mean. She helped keep us focused, keep our perspective, keep us on schedule and, on many occasions, keep our sanity.
When she became ill her friends and colleagues hoped publicly and wept privately.
Today, we weep publicly.
Carol, thanks for all the small favors, for loyalty and honesty, for precision and professionalism. And thanks for your friendship.
I miss you. Read More & Comment...
I knew Carol in her role as executive secretary to Mark McClellan when he was FDA Commissioner. But she had served other Commissioners before him. She represented the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner, and the FDA to a wide variety of people both inside and outside of government, regardless of political affiliation, nationality, or degree of scientific standing with something so crucial, yet so lacking in so much of Washington, DC today. Class.
Those who knew her and worked along side her know what I mean. She helped keep us focused, keep our perspective, keep us on schedule and, on many occasions, keep our sanity.
When she became ill her friends and colleagues hoped publicly and wept privately.
Today, we weep publicly.
Carol, thanks for all the small favors, for loyalty and honesty, for precision and professionalism. And thanks for your friendship.
I miss you. Read More & Comment...
08/28/2007 10:21 AM |
along with others in a concise National Review Online symposium..
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmQwZTIzODQxYWQ3ZDlkNmVlZjVjYzA3MTA3ZTBkNzU= Read More & Comment...
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmQwZTIzODQxYWQ3ZDlkNmVlZjVjYzA3MTA3ZTBkNzU= Read More & Comment...
08/28/2007 09:37 AM |
Not really, but Drew Altman of the Kaiser Family Foundation inadvertently comes up with great idea in plugging KFF's latest waste of money.
On the heels of co-sponsoring the hard hitting survey showing that poor seniors without Medicare part D coverage paid more for drugs than those without, KFF spent part of it's billions ona poll examining just how many people were affected by "Sicko."
Turns out that less than 4 percent of Americans saw the movie, give or take a couple of percentage points (that includes folks who saw it on the Web for free). Needless to say that's not the story KFF wanted to tell. So it asked who had heard of Michael Moore and Sicko right after the both had been basted with a huge marketing blitz. (Ok to market Sicko but not drugs, right?)
"The new poll finds that almost half (46%) had seen the movie or heard or read something about it a little over a month after its national release. This is not much less than the share of adults (61%) who were aware of "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary on climate change featuring former Vice President Al Gore released in May 2006."
Well, at least Gore can say he won that race.
So what's the precious dross we can take away from this KFF poll?
"Our poll shows how the combination of good timing, a controversial director, and lots of free media attention can generate real impact for a film that very few people have actually seen," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew E. Altman, Ph.D. "'Sicko' is not a commercial juggernaut like 'Transformers' or 'Harry Potter,' and we're not likely to find Michael Moore action figures at fast food restaurants any time soon. But we are starting to see how films about social issues that capitalize on free media rather than traditional marketing can become social phenomena too."
A Michael Moore action figure at a fast food restaurant. Now THAT is funny. Maybe KFF would also be interested in my concept for a health care action movie. It would start Bruce Willis as a NYPD type in London who rescues Michael Moore when is taken hostage by a NHS doctor who is also a terrorist. It's called Fat Free or Die Hard.
PS Does a KFF poll promoting "Sicko" count as 'free media' or 'traditional marketing?' Read More & Comment...
On the heels of co-sponsoring the hard hitting survey showing that poor seniors without Medicare part D coverage paid more for drugs than those without, KFF spent part of it's billions ona poll examining just how many people were affected by "Sicko."
Turns out that less than 4 percent of Americans saw the movie, give or take a couple of percentage points (that includes folks who saw it on the Web for free). Needless to say that's not the story KFF wanted to tell. So it asked who had heard of Michael Moore and Sicko right after the both had been basted with a huge marketing blitz. (Ok to market Sicko but not drugs, right?)
"The new poll finds that almost half (46%) had seen the movie or heard or read something about it a little over a month after its national release. This is not much less than the share of adults (61%) who were aware of "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary on climate change featuring former Vice President Al Gore released in May 2006."
Well, at least Gore can say he won that race.
So what's the precious dross we can take away from this KFF poll?
"Our poll shows how the combination of good timing, a controversial director, and lots of free media attention can generate real impact for a film that very few people have actually seen," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew E. Altman, Ph.D. "'Sicko' is not a commercial juggernaut like 'Transformers' or 'Harry Potter,' and we're not likely to find Michael Moore action figures at fast food restaurants any time soon. But we are starting to see how films about social issues that capitalize on free media rather than traditional marketing can become social phenomena too."
A Michael Moore action figure at a fast food restaurant. Now THAT is funny. Maybe KFF would also be interested in my concept for a health care action movie. It would start Bruce Willis as a NYPD type in London who rescues Michael Moore when is taken hostage by a NHS doctor who is also a terrorist. It's called Fat Free or Die Hard.
PS Does a KFF poll promoting "Sicko" count as 'free media' or 'traditional marketing?' Read More & Comment...
08/28/2007 07:21 AM |
Guarantees are hard to come by. Even with medicine, doctors would be hard-pressed to tell patients that the drug they're prescribing is certain to work. After all, thanks to different medical histories, personal biochemistries, and physiologies, everyone is different. There's no such thing as a "me-too" patient.
That's why patients and their doctors often try a variety of different drugs before finding one that works - because there's no such thing as a "me-too" medicine. But in the interest of saving a few bucks, such personalized treatments may soon become a thing of the past.
This fundamental misunderstanding is being advanced by politicians grasping for answers to questions on health care. For an example, look no further than Reps. Tom Allen, D-ME, and Jo Ann Emerson, R-MO, whose Enhanced Health Care Value for All Act would increase spending on one-size-fits-all, top-down solutions.
The bill would authorize $3 billion of investment on new research "on the comparative effectiveness of health care services (including prescription drugs, medical devices, procedures, and other treatments) to inform health care providers' decisions." Senator Hillary Clinton also has advocated a similar program.
Here's the rest of the story, courtesy of the Tampa Tribune ...
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/aug/27/na-one-size-medicine-does-not-fit-all/?news-opinion-commentary
Comparative Effectiveness -- the Hanging Chad of Health Care Read More & Comment...
That's why patients and their doctors often try a variety of different drugs before finding one that works - because there's no such thing as a "me-too" medicine. But in the interest of saving a few bucks, such personalized treatments may soon become a thing of the past.
This fundamental misunderstanding is being advanced by politicians grasping for answers to questions on health care. For an example, look no further than Reps. Tom Allen, D-ME, and Jo Ann Emerson, R-MO, whose Enhanced Health Care Value for All Act would increase spending on one-size-fits-all, top-down solutions.
The bill would authorize $3 billion of investment on new research "on the comparative effectiveness of health care services (including prescription drugs, medical devices, procedures, and other treatments) to inform health care providers' decisions." Senator Hillary Clinton also has advocated a similar program.
Here's the rest of the story, courtesy of the Tampa Tribune ...
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/aug/27/na-one-size-medicine-does-not-fit-all/?news-opinion-commentary
Comparative Effectiveness -- the Hanging Chad of Health Care Read More & Comment...
08/28/2007 05:04 AM |
Commentary from today's edition of The Wall Street Journal ...
Patent Remedy
By RONALD A. CASS
The European Union's trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, recently joined the U.S. in protesting Thailand's effective theft of pharmaceutical companies' intellectual property. Despite efforts of health activists to portray the world community as accepting -- even endorsing -- Thailand's conduct, there is growing appreciation that trampling patents to allow a middle-income nation to cut its spending on drugs seriously threatens the world's system of protections for innovation.
The basic issues are relatively simple. Improvements in the way we treat diseases, communicate, store information and do so much else depend on innovation. To encourage innovators, laws give them the right to control the uses of their inventions for a period of time, to decide who makes products using their innovations, and to set the price for access to this "intellectual property."
The World Trade Organization's agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) ties other trade rights to adequate respect for partners' patents, copyrights and trademarks. Compulsory licensing -- forcing patent owners to allow others to manufacture products using their innovations at prices set by the government -- is permitted under extraordinary conditions, such as when a critical patent is not being used to produce essential goods. This has always been understood as limited to a small set of special cases.
While the system of IP protections has worked well to encourage investment in innovations, some groups oppose protection of all property rights. Over the past decade, these groups have worked hard to alter the meaning of the Trips agreement and to encourage governments to use compulsory licensing to break IP protections.
These groups gained a small victory when the WTO said in 2001 that Trips encompassed "flexibilities" -- including compulsory licensing -- that allow governments to deal with health emergencies such as might be posed by epidemics of tuberculosis, malaria or HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. WTO ministers agreed as well that there was not a single definition for all nations at all times of what constitutes an appropriate sort of emergency to justify compulsory licensing.
The activists used that declaration to argue that Trips authorizes any nation to impose compulsory licensing on any patent, especially any drug patent, for any reason. The military-backed Thai government's compulsory licensing initiative, pushed by its Public Health Ministry, is the first fruit of the activists' campaign -- a relatively developed nation facing no epidemic, just seeking to shift its spending priorities by taking someone else's property.
The U.S. clearly signaled its view that this works a radical change in the legal system for protecting IP. It put Thailand on the Priority Watch list for nations violating IP rights and formally protested Thailand's action. These moves could lead to trade sanctions on Thailand.
The EU's letter, adding Europe's voice, is especially interesting given the attacks that Neelie Kroes, the EU's competition minister, has launched on IP rights. While Ms. Kroes blithely assumes that her assertion of control over the uses and prices of IP created by firms like Microsoft won't harm innovation, Mr. Mandelson recognizes that any government's assault on the system of IP protections can unravel a thread that supports an increasing proportion of the global economy.
Having set the stage for a potentially disastrous turn in world protection of IP rights, Thailand has a chance to show leadership in a very different way. If its prime minister reins in its Public Health Ministry, Thailand can remind those in Europe and the U.S. who waver on protection for IP rights that the costs of undermining innovation vastly exceed short-term gains from cutting prices on patented drugs. Protecting the benefits from innovation and trade should matter more than pleasing the activists -- no matter how loudly they complain.
Mr. Cass is chairman of the Center for the Rule of Law, dean emeritus of Boston University School of Law and former vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Read More & Comment...
Patent Remedy
By RONALD A. CASS
The European Union's trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, recently joined the U.S. in protesting Thailand's effective theft of pharmaceutical companies' intellectual property. Despite efforts of health activists to portray the world community as accepting -- even endorsing -- Thailand's conduct, there is growing appreciation that trampling patents to allow a middle-income nation to cut its spending on drugs seriously threatens the world's system of protections for innovation.
The basic issues are relatively simple. Improvements in the way we treat diseases, communicate, store information and do so much else depend on innovation. To encourage innovators, laws give them the right to control the uses of their inventions for a period of time, to decide who makes products using their innovations, and to set the price for access to this "intellectual property."
The World Trade Organization's agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) ties other trade rights to adequate respect for partners' patents, copyrights and trademarks. Compulsory licensing -- forcing patent owners to allow others to manufacture products using their innovations at prices set by the government -- is permitted under extraordinary conditions, such as when a critical patent is not being used to produce essential goods. This has always been understood as limited to a small set of special cases.
While the system of IP protections has worked well to encourage investment in innovations, some groups oppose protection of all property rights. Over the past decade, these groups have worked hard to alter the meaning of the Trips agreement and to encourage governments to use compulsory licensing to break IP protections.
These groups gained a small victory when the WTO said in 2001 that Trips encompassed "flexibilities" -- including compulsory licensing -- that allow governments to deal with health emergencies such as might be posed by epidemics of tuberculosis, malaria or HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. WTO ministers agreed as well that there was not a single definition for all nations at all times of what constitutes an appropriate sort of emergency to justify compulsory licensing.
The activists used that declaration to argue that Trips authorizes any nation to impose compulsory licensing on any patent, especially any drug patent, for any reason. The military-backed Thai government's compulsory licensing initiative, pushed by its Public Health Ministry, is the first fruit of the activists' campaign -- a relatively developed nation facing no epidemic, just seeking to shift its spending priorities by taking someone else's property.
The U.S. clearly signaled its view that this works a radical change in the legal system for protecting IP. It put Thailand on the Priority Watch list for nations violating IP rights and formally protested Thailand's action. These moves could lead to trade sanctions on Thailand.
The EU's letter, adding Europe's voice, is especially interesting given the attacks that Neelie Kroes, the EU's competition minister, has launched on IP rights. While Ms. Kroes blithely assumes that her assertion of control over the uses and prices of IP created by firms like Microsoft won't harm innovation, Mr. Mandelson recognizes that any government's assault on the system of IP protections can unravel a thread that supports an increasing proportion of the global economy.
Having set the stage for a potentially disastrous turn in world protection of IP rights, Thailand has a chance to show leadership in a very different way. If its prime minister reins in its Public Health Ministry, Thailand can remind those in Europe and the U.S. who waver on protection for IP rights that the costs of undermining innovation vastly exceed short-term gains from cutting prices on patented drugs. Protecting the benefits from innovation and trade should matter more than pleasing the activists -- no matter how loudly they complain.
Mr. Cass is chairman of the Center for the Rule of Law, dean emeritus of Boston University School of Law and former vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Read More & Comment...
08/27/2007 09:19 AM |
This one showing that poor seniors who don't enroll in part D are more likely to have higher out of pocket costs than seniors that do enroll.
Imagine the brainpower it took to come to that conclusion.
Next study from Commonwealth: People with insurance have more coverage than people who don't have insurance.
Oh the humanity.
http://www.kff.org/medicare/med082107nr.cfm Read More & Comment...
Imagine the brainpower it took to come to that conclusion.
Next study from Commonwealth: People with insurance have more coverage than people who don't have insurance.
Oh the humanity.
http://www.kff.org/medicare/med082107nr.cfm Read More & Comment...
08/27/2007 08:14 AM |
Info via the Pink Sheet (in plain text) with comments (in bold) courtesy of drugwonks.com.
German Health Reform Law Could Shake Up Pharmaceutical Market
Drug companies in the United States and Europe are warily watching a new law in Germany that could change the competitive landscape.
Sure it'll hit their pocketbooks -- but the folks who will really get screwed are patients and physicians.
The legislation - The Act for the Enhancement of Competition in Statutory Health Insurance - includes several provisions aimed at reducing drug costs. Most significantly, the measure requires that cost-benefit analyses be performed on certain drugs, the results of which will be used to set reimbursement ceilings. Drug companies are mainly worried about how these analyses will be conducted.
Worried, but not wondering, because the studies that will be used are the studies that are already being used -- RCTs that were neither designed nor intended to be used for comparative effectiveness purposes.
Other provisions also could change the market. The law, which came into effect in April, requires consumers to obtain a second opinion from a physician to receive prescriptions for drugs that are expensive or have significant risks, and it allows health insurance funds to set up biddings between drug manufacturers with the aim of establishing rebate contracts.
Does this mean a second opinion from the first doc, or does the patient have to seek out and consult with an additional physician? If the former, where's the hammer, if the latter, it's just the latest move to disempower physicians from the appropriate practice of medicine as they see fit.
The GBA (or Joint Federal Committee of Physicians, Dentists, Hospitals and Health Insurance Funds) is responsible for determining which drugs will be subject to reimbursement. Since 2004, it has directed the Institute for Quality and Economy in the Health Care System (IQWiG) to conduct drug benefit analyses. Under the new law, it now will ask the institute to perform cost-benefit analyses for certain drugs. If the IQWiG finds there is an advantage for patients to use a drug, the GBA will allow its reimbursement.
But "advantage" is in the eye of the government, aka "the payor." So, just whose "advantage" do you think takes precedence?
"The idea is to ban all drugs from reimbursement which are more expensive than others but do not have a therapeutic advance," said Ralf-Thomas Hillebrand, a spokesperson for the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA).
How do you say "incremental innovation" in German?
Drugs that are therapeutically superior to other medicines are not subject to reference pricing.
I'm sure that looks terrific on paper -- as did Mr. Chamberlain's infamous "piece of paper" -- but what percent of medicines do you think are subject to reference pricing in Germany? This is nothing more than health care appeasement -- "health care savings in our time."
The legislation is the latest in a string of German reforms intended to rein in drug costs and bolster the country's public statutory health insurance system - the SHI - which covers about 90 percent of the population. The system is funded through wage deductions.
You mean it's not ... free? Read More & Comment...
German Health Reform Law Could Shake Up Pharmaceutical Market
Drug companies in the United States and Europe are warily watching a new law in Germany that could change the competitive landscape.
Sure it'll hit their pocketbooks -- but the folks who will really get screwed are patients and physicians.
The legislation - The Act for the Enhancement of Competition in Statutory Health Insurance - includes several provisions aimed at reducing drug costs. Most significantly, the measure requires that cost-benefit analyses be performed on certain drugs, the results of which will be used to set reimbursement ceilings. Drug companies are mainly worried about how these analyses will be conducted.
Worried, but not wondering, because the studies that will be used are the studies that are already being used -- RCTs that were neither designed nor intended to be used for comparative effectiveness purposes.
Other provisions also could change the market. The law, which came into effect in April, requires consumers to obtain a second opinion from a physician to receive prescriptions for drugs that are expensive or have significant risks, and it allows health insurance funds to set up biddings between drug manufacturers with the aim of establishing rebate contracts.
Does this mean a second opinion from the first doc, or does the patient have to seek out and consult with an additional physician? If the former, where's the hammer, if the latter, it's just the latest move to disempower physicians from the appropriate practice of medicine as they see fit.
The GBA (or Joint Federal Committee of Physicians, Dentists, Hospitals and Health Insurance Funds) is responsible for determining which drugs will be subject to reimbursement. Since 2004, it has directed the Institute for Quality and Economy in the Health Care System (IQWiG) to conduct drug benefit analyses. Under the new law, it now will ask the institute to perform cost-benefit analyses for certain drugs. If the IQWiG finds there is an advantage for patients to use a drug, the GBA will allow its reimbursement.
But "advantage" is in the eye of the government, aka "the payor." So, just whose "advantage" do you think takes precedence?
"The idea is to ban all drugs from reimbursement which are more expensive than others but do not have a therapeutic advance," said Ralf-Thomas Hillebrand, a spokesperson for the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA).
How do you say "incremental innovation" in German?
Drugs that are therapeutically superior to other medicines are not subject to reference pricing.
I'm sure that looks terrific on paper -- as did Mr. Chamberlain's infamous "piece of paper" -- but what percent of medicines do you think are subject to reference pricing in Germany? This is nothing more than health care appeasement -- "health care savings in our time."
The legislation is the latest in a string of German reforms intended to rein in drug costs and bolster the country's public statutory health insurance system - the SHI - which covers about 90 percent of the population. The system is funded through wage deductions.
You mean it's not ... free? Read More & Comment...
08/27/2007 07:35 AM |
Drug Industry Daily
Aug. 27, 2007 | Vol. 6 No. 168
PDUFA Provisions Could Harm FDA and Industry, Expert Say
Some of the provisions in the FDA Revitalization Act, S. 1082 and H.R. 2900, would be ineffective, could cripple the FDA and would put unnecessary burdens on pharmaceutical companies, Center for Medicine in the Public Interest President Peter Pitts said at the Third Annual FDA Regulatory and Compliance Symposium at Harvard University. “Political battles are trumping public health,†he added.
The most important part of the bill is a provision funding the Reagan-Udall Institute and the agency’s Critical Path Initiative, according to Pitts. “This is the single most important advance and change in FDA legislation, possibly ever,†he said. “It really sets the FDA on the path to a 21st century perspective in terms of both protecting the public health and advancing the public health.â€
The FDA’s recent label change for Coumadin (warfarin) to add information about genetic tests was “such an important advance,†Pitts said, adding that the agency should continue doing more with the Critical Path Initiative (DID, Aug. 17).
However, Pitts said some provisions in the legislation will be ineffective and could harm the FDA. He criticized a provision that would ban members with more than $50,000 in financial conflicts of interest from voting on advisory committees. The FDA recently issued a draft guidance of a proposed rule that would do the same thing (DID, March 22).
“All this will succeed in doing is allow the agency to recruit the second best and the almost brightest for advisory committees, and that is not acceptable,†Pitts said. He added that $50,000 is an arbitrary limit.
Pitts also criticized the bill’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) requirements. He noted that early drafts of the bill contained language that would have made it mandatory for each new drug application to contain an REMS. “That’s like saying every new product is equally risky,†Pitts said.
Giving the FDA the authority to require an REMS as part of a new drug application could encourage the agency to call for them more, even when they are unnecessary, he said.
However, the enhanced focus on safety and postmarketing surveillance is the industry’s fault for not living up to its commitments to conduct postmarketing studies, Pitts said. “Now they are reaping what they sowed,†he added. Companies should use the opportunity to conduct postmarketing studies for public health purposes, he said.
Pitts also criticized the provisions in the bill that would add a user fee for a voluntary review of direct-to-consumer advertisements. The FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications has no predictability and will send companies warning letters even if they incorporated all of the agency’s suggestions in their advertisements, according to Pitts. “If the FDA wants to have an impact in quality and safety and appropriateness, they can’t change their minds after the fact, fee or no fee.†— Emily Ethridge Read More & Comment...
Aug. 27, 2007 | Vol. 6 No. 168
PDUFA Provisions Could Harm FDA and Industry, Expert Say
Some of the provisions in the FDA Revitalization Act, S. 1082 and H.R. 2900, would be ineffective, could cripple the FDA and would put unnecessary burdens on pharmaceutical companies, Center for Medicine in the Public Interest President Peter Pitts said at the Third Annual FDA Regulatory and Compliance Symposium at Harvard University. “Political battles are trumping public health,†he added.
The most important part of the bill is a provision funding the Reagan-Udall Institute and the agency’s Critical Path Initiative, according to Pitts. “This is the single most important advance and change in FDA legislation, possibly ever,†he said. “It really sets the FDA on the path to a 21st century perspective in terms of both protecting the public health and advancing the public health.â€
The FDA’s recent label change for Coumadin (warfarin) to add information about genetic tests was “such an important advance,†Pitts said, adding that the agency should continue doing more with the Critical Path Initiative (DID, Aug. 17).
However, Pitts said some provisions in the legislation will be ineffective and could harm the FDA. He criticized a provision that would ban members with more than $50,000 in financial conflicts of interest from voting on advisory committees. The FDA recently issued a draft guidance of a proposed rule that would do the same thing (DID, March 22).
“All this will succeed in doing is allow the agency to recruit the second best and the almost brightest for advisory committees, and that is not acceptable,†Pitts said. He added that $50,000 is an arbitrary limit.
Pitts also criticized the bill’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) requirements. He noted that early drafts of the bill contained language that would have made it mandatory for each new drug application to contain an REMS. “That’s like saying every new product is equally risky,†Pitts said.
Giving the FDA the authority to require an REMS as part of a new drug application could encourage the agency to call for them more, even when they are unnecessary, he said.
However, the enhanced focus on safety and postmarketing surveillance is the industry’s fault for not living up to its commitments to conduct postmarketing studies, Pitts said. “Now they are reaping what they sowed,†he added. Companies should use the opportunity to conduct postmarketing studies for public health purposes, he said.
Pitts also criticized the provisions in the bill that would add a user fee for a voluntary review of direct-to-consumer advertisements. The FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications has no predictability and will send companies warning letters even if they incorporated all of the agency’s suggestions in their advertisements, according to Pitts. “If the FDA wants to have an impact in quality and safety and appropriateness, they can’t change their minds after the fact, fee or no fee.†— Emily Ethridge Read More & Comment...
08/24/2007 02:35 PM |
Rumors are flying.
If true, what will this mean for Michael Moore's favorite health care system? Read More & Comment...
If true, what will this mean for Michael Moore's favorite health care system? Read More & Comment...
08/24/2007 09:02 AM |
From the London Times...
From The TimesAugust 24, 2007
Britain the worst for deaths from strokes
Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor
"Patients who suffer strokes receive worse treatment in Britain than anywhere else in Western Europe .
More die and more are left disabled, a leading expert says in this week’s British Medical Journal, even though Britain spends as much as, if not more than, other countries on stroke care. "
On the bright side...the NHS has reduced waiting times for access to explosive belts down to zero.
Meanwhile liberals -- mostly in the form of The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn -- are wandering the globe in search of a health care system better than ours. They first went to Canada, then the VA, then the UK, then France, only to find or omitting real problems. Leave it to the Commonwealth Fund to remain steadfast in supporting the idea of shoving everyone into Medicaid or Medicare.
And as we speak the SCHIP proposal is tanking because -- strangely -- the idea of stealing Medicare money from poor seniors to pay for Medicaid for rich kids is not flying.
I can't wait for the health care debate in 2008. Read More & Comment...
From The TimesAugust 24, 2007
Britain the worst for deaths from strokes
Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor
"Patients who suffer strokes receive worse treatment in Britain than anywhere else in Western Europe .
More die and more are left disabled, a leading expert says in this week’s British Medical Journal, even though Britain spends as much as, if not more than, other countries on stroke care. "
On the bright side...the NHS has reduced waiting times for access to explosive belts down to zero.
Meanwhile liberals -- mostly in the form of The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn -- are wandering the globe in search of a health care system better than ours. They first went to Canada, then the VA, then the UK, then France, only to find or omitting real problems. Leave it to the Commonwealth Fund to remain steadfast in supporting the idea of shoving everyone into Medicaid or Medicare.
And as we speak the SCHIP proposal is tanking because -- strangely -- the idea of stealing Medicare money from poor seniors to pay for Medicaid for rich kids is not flying.
I can't wait for the health care debate in 2008. Read More & Comment...
Social Networks
Please Follow the Drugwonks Blog on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube & RSS
Add This Blog to my Technorati Favorites