Latest Drugwonks' Blog
"Little Trig Palin prompted more than delegate coos when he joined his mother on stage at the Republican convention. He also raised new questions among parents whose children have disabilities.
Was Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin simply including her 5-month-old son, who has Down syndrome, in a big family moment, or was she exploiting him in a tight presidential campaign? Would he help break down social barriers facing children with Down syndrome, or would those children now be drawn into the right-to-life debate?"
Wasn't it the media and the left wing blogosphere who raised all these questions and invaded her family's privacy? Of course it was and that's where Krumholz went for her "sources."
"Among bloggers' top concerns is a Bush administration measure that would trim Medicaid funding for community services for people with disabilities. Democrats have so far stalled the cuts, which advocates for the disabled said would force the disabled back into institutions.
Blogs also were filled with questions about Gov. Palin's record on services to the disabled during her two years in state office. This spring, Alaska agreed to almost triple its spending on special-needs children, to $73,840 each beginning in 2011. But Gov. Palin didn't help draft the legislation."
She didn't help draft the legislation?? Obviously a sign of neglect!!
Yep. But what's implicit in what Dr. Varmus says is -- since we're not dying of heart attacks and strokes (thanks largely to pharmaceutical interventions) -- we're living long enough to get cancer. (Also -- NewsWeek fact-checkers please note -- Varmus wasn't the "former director of NCI," he was the former director of the NIH.)
So, are more people getting cancer? Yes. Are more people dying of cancer? Yes. Does that mean that we are "losing" the war on cancer? Not necessarily.
Meager? Really?
Is there cause for hope? Absolutely. And no better reason to embrace and fund the Critical Path program.
Oh. And just how high a body count would Diane like? I have a clue.
Diane, has also said that anti-depressants don't work and that she knew better than I did because she is an epidemiologist, When I told her that certain members of my family had responded well to SSRIs she said, "Well, good for you. " I could feel the love.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jLeef2T5nlybcAAzF3Fe1qqDEaqgD930MUEG0
Like I said, predictable.
According to my source inside the agency, "For all our communications we endeavored to communicate 24-48 hours in advance."
As far as today's inaugural report, sponsors were notified yesterday.
Question: why not sooner?
(If you disagree that the media overreacts, let's see what happens tomorrow.)
One way to help modulate the unintended consequences (aka, "general hysteria") these things tend to generate is to make sure drug companies have some advance warning of these postings so they can be prepared to communicate their perspectives to patients, physicians and payers. Will the FDA be advising companies that a given product will be included in the report? It wasn't discussed during the press briefing.
Inquiring minds want to know (1) if "yes," how far in advance will a company be notified and, (2) if "no," why not?
More as more develops.
Center for Medicine in the Public Interest presents:
"Industry Support for Continuing Education of Healthcare Professionals"
Monday September 22, 2008
8:00am-12:00pm
121 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC
CLICK HERE to view the Capitol Hill event invitation
This file requires Adobe Reader. Click Here to download Adobe PDF Reader.
Center for Medicine in the Public Interest presents:
"Industry Support for Continuing Education of Healthcare Professionals"
Monday September 22, 2008
8:00am-12:00pm
121 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC
CLICK HERE to view the Capitol Hill event invitation
This file requires Adobe Reader. Click Here to download Adobe PDF Reader.
Last night John McCain came out strongly against healthcare reform that would have “bureaucrats” telling doctors how to practice medicine.
And he’s right.
Many people, who disagree with the GOP nominee, echo the empty rhetoric of SiCKO and are calling for healthcare “like in
Well, it ain’t free. Government-controlled healthcare is funded through (gasp!) taxes.
Consider
Then consider the United Kingdom, so often held up by advocates of "universal" healthcare.
“A cancer sufferer whose primary care trust refused to pay for a drug which could extend his life by up to three years has launched an 'end of the road' legal challenge to the decision. If Colin Ross continues to be denied the drug, Revlimid, he will die within a few months, experts say.
He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells, in May 2004. Doctors at the
Revlimid is readily available to patients in Europe and the
In May, West Sussex Primary Care Trust blocked an emergency application for NHS funding for Revlimid for Mr. Ross, saying it was too expensive and his circumstances were not sufficiently exceptional for him to qualify.”
Yes – that’s what the “bureaucrat” said – “his circumstances were not sufficiently exceptional …”
Yes, by all means, let’s put bureaucrats in control of health care.
Is this the sort of healthcare “reform” we want?
Is that the sort of “change” we want?
For those who call for “free and universal” healthcare, remember the words of Benjamin Franklin, who said:
"All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse."
* Is it "true" that industry-sponsored CME helps neither physicians nor patients because it is "biased?"
* Would CME be "better" if industry just gave the same dollars to academic medical centers and hospitals?
* Does barring industry support dampen intellectual freedom and drive talented people out of academic medicine?
We'll be joined by experts such as Tom Stossel, MD (Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School), Roger Meyer, MD (Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University), Jack Lewin, MD (President, American College of Cardiology), Gary Puckrein (National Minority Quality Forum), Michael Weber, MD (Professor of Medicine, Downstate Medical Center) and others.
We hope to see you there. Here's a copy of the complete agenda.
If you would like to attend (there is no cost), please contact Mario Coluccio at (212) 417-9169 or mario.coluccio@cmpi.org
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For now it is worth mentioning that when campaigning for governor Palin promised to come up with a plan to provide all Alaskans with the opportunity to purchase affordable healthcare. She did. She established the Alaska Health Care Strategies Planning Council which in turn came up with a proposal to promote transparency of health care costs, deregulation in the formation of health care businesses to promote competition and expanded tax beneftis to support health savings accounts. The Palin plan also redirected state health spending towards electronic medical records, expansion of community health clinics in rural areas and increasing eligibility of the SCHIP program to 200 percent of poverty level. Further, Palin had instructed Alaska's Dept. of Health and Human Services to develop a goal-oriented action plan to improve the quality of care in nursing homes, increase foster care monitoring and quality, reduce child abuse, increase the amount of preventive care covered and paid for by Medicaid, reduce the incidence of SIDS in Alaska which is three times the national average due to a combination of genetic and risk factors unique to the Alaskan-Indian population. Last time I checked, that is called a record of accomplishment and action...
A news account and a copy of the final report of the Planning Council can be found here and here:
Read here
http://www.hss.state.ak.us/hspc/
The HHS goals can be found here: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/HSS/