Daschle slips Federal limits on what your doctor can do for you into the "economic stimulus" bill.
Call your legislators to stop this intrusion.
-Jeff
metrics are great, IF they're used for the benefit of customers.
i know a woman who was crippled via LASIK surgery, we later found out that she was left with metal dust in both eyes. the doctor used a blade that was covered with slimy metal dust.
she saw over 25 ophthalmologists trying to get help; i have a copy of her medical records up through about doctor #17.
she also participated in a clinical trial. when we called the place that co-sponsored the clinical trial, Loma Linda Univ. Med school, they said "we have no record of this patient's participation in that clinical trial."
when we tried to contact various authorities, we got dead silence - no response. they were not willing to deal with the situation of a falsified medical trial for a medical laser sold by a Bausch & Lomb subsidiary in Southern California.
i have seen enough of this behavior to have no faith in the ability of doctors to use metrics for the benefit of their patients, in the United States.
however, i've also had a chance to count injured LASIK patients myself, and to see the usefulness of metrics.
so i think metrics are GREAT, when they are properly kept.
i wonder if this relates somehow to Larry Page marrying a bio-statistics PhD student at Stanford. Google is getting into bio-statistics record keeping, and they also have a definite "in" at the Obama White House via Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Braggi
02-11-2009, 12:52 PM
metrics are great, IF they're used for the benefit of customers. ...
This isn't about metrics.
This is about inserting a major health care "reform" measure into a "must pass" financial bailout/stimulus package (if I was one of those billionaire bankers I'd be feeling pretty stimulated about now).
Why is this totally inappropriate tag-along even in this bill? This has no business appearing on a bill that won't be debated nor even read by the legislators voting on it.
Call your representative and ask them if they're even aware of this boondoggle.
-Jeff
PeriodThree
02-12-2009, 10:35 PM
With Respect Jeff, I totally disagree with you.
This provision is designed to actually look at which treatments actually work. For a scientific endeavor medicine is generally practiced with far less evidence than it should use.
(as an example : WTF is up with advertising that wants you to 'ask your doctor' to use the advertised drug).
The Hudson Institute, where Betsy McCaughey is a senior fellow, is a conservative think tank:
Hudson Institute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Institute)
Betsy McCaughey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_McCaughey_Ross (https://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Betsy+McCaughey&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1)
has a history of not being entirely truthful in her writing. Her work against the Clinton health plan was very effective, and was not 'fact based' (yes, she lied).
In her article on the stimulus plan she is, with respect, lying.
Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey
Daschle slips Federal limits on what your doctor can do for you into the "economic stimulus" bill.
Call your legislators to stop this intrusion.
-Jeff
Braggi
02-12-2009, 11:02 PM
... In her article on the stimulus plan she is, with respect, lying.
It doesn't matter. She actually read the vast bill in all its pages, something the senators who voted on it did not. She found a soldier hidden in the Trojan horse. It shouldn't have been there. This was supposed to be an economic stimulus package, not a major "reform" of how our medical care is delivered. The worst thing to happen to modern medicine in this country is "managed care." That plan proposes managed care on everything, starting with Medicare. That's a mistake and a huge, costly, deadly mistake.
Your post deserves a more complete answer but I have only a moment.
Whether she lied or not is irrelevant. She caught the bastard doing what he does best: sneaking legislation in a bill that "must pass" so that it won't be read or debated. That's a very shitty business.
-Jeff
PeriodThree
02-12-2009, 11:17 PM
But what she wrote specifically about the Obama stimulus is not true.
"She claimed that the stimulus bill would cause a newly created office to "monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective" which was, in essence, "enforcing uniformity." The portions of the text to which she cites, however, do nothing of the sort."
It doesn't matter. She actually read the vast bill in all its pages, something the senators who voted on it did not. She found a soldier hidden in the Trojan horse. It shouldn't have been there. This was supposed to be an economic stimulus package, not a major "reform" of how our medical care is delivered. The worst thing to happen to modern medicine in this country is "managed care." That plan proposes managed care on everything, starting with Medicare. That's a mistake and a huge, costly, deadly mistake.
Your post deserves a more complete answer but I have only a moment.
Whether she lied or not is irrelevant. She caught the bastard doing what he does best: sneaking legislation in a bill that "must pass" so that it won't be read or debated. That's a very shitty business.