tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281443754502891373.post2590717775051952096..comments2023-09-16T09:09:18.691-04:00Comments on Kittywampus - now at kittywampus.wordpress.com: Legislating Evidence-Based MedicineSungoldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02153155221248240952noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281443754502891373.post-46437014450273891182009-02-19T19:56:00.000-05:002009-02-19T19:56:00.000-05:00Thanks for the tip, Heather. Howard Dean's article...Thanks for the tip, Heather. <A HREF="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-dean/the-far-rights-all-out-of_b_167628.html" REL="nofollow">Howard Dean's article is here</A> in case anyone else is interested in checking it out. <BR/><BR/>I totally agree with him that comparative effectiveness research is an important counterweight against the drug companies' marketing juggernaut. The drug companies will always have a vested interest in steering people toward medications still under patent protection. And Dean points out one reassuring fact: The bill prohibits the government from denying coverage on the basis of this research.<BR/><BR/>Problem is, it apparently says nothing about private insurers. I have had such bitter experiences with drug coverage in particular. So I have to assume that private insurers *will* use this research to restrict coverage. <BR/><BR/>Here's one example. Following his chemo, my husband didn't get some of his anti-nausea drugs reimbursed because we were in Germany at the time and the drugs came in different dosages and package sizes. This was a standard drug, Zofran, that would've been covered if he'd been in Ohio when he got sick, and that would've cost more than twice as much here in the U.S. So we were simply denied coverage to the tune of thousands of dollars because some pointy-headed bureaucrat couldn't make a reasonable decision. The irony is that overall, our insurance would've had to pay *tens* of thousands more for treatment if we'd been in the U.S. at the time.Sungoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02153155221248240952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281443754502891373.post-43948931260738155262009-02-19T07:35:00.000-05:002009-02-19T07:35:00.000-05:00Howard Dean had a good article on this subject in ...Howard Dean had a good article on this subject in the Huffington Post yesterday. He argues that evidence based medicine has been pushed aside by drug marketing. New drugs are not necessarily better than old ones, and sometimes the older ones are more effective and safer.Heather Munro Prescotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01398263881320087944noreply@blogger.com