HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
CMPI NEWS
www.cmpi.org
Money For Nothing
The Journal of Life Sciences
By Peter J. Pitts
May 8, 2009
President Obama's proposed budget for the agency that approves new drugs and monitors our food supply calls for a 19 percent increase in 2010. Mostly, it's more money spent the right way for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The $3.2-billion budget request for the 2010 fiscal year includes much needed increases to give the agency the resources it needs to carry out its job of protecting the public. So far so good. But here's the big mistake: the budget includes $5 million for drug importation.
http://www.tjols.com/article-1369.html
DRUGWONKS BLOG
www.drugwonks.com
Dialing Down Or Dumbing Down The Fight Between Comparative Effectiveness And Personalized Medicine
By Robert M. Goldberg
May 7, 2009
This blog has not be afraid of a fight when it comes to characterizing poorly designed CER as an excuse for rationing new technologies. On the other hand, those who oppose CER have to do a lot more than just bleat about its negative consequences. It has to stop spending money on lobbyists and start spending money on researchers who can create a science-based path for the approval and use of diagnostics and clinical data for selecting and evaluating treatments, preventing illness and improving health. And it has to spend money to demonstrate that it can do all of the above.
http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6760
Fake It Until You Can Make It?
By Peter Pitts
May 5, 2009
According to the Associated Press, “The Food and Drug Administration has found at least 20 Web sites that may be fraudulently marketing products with claims that they guard against or cure swine flu.”
The FDA has also found at least 20 other sites offering products for swine flu -- including antiviral medications being sold without a doctor's prescription (including Tamiflu), dietary supplements with exaggerated claims, and flu diagnostic and protection kits.
http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6757
ARTICLES OF NOTE
Healthcare Reform Looms, Firms Seek Scraps From Stimulus
Nature Biotechnology
May 2009
http://www.cmpi.org/uploads/File/Healthcare%20Reform%20Looms.pdf
FDA Picks May Stress Safety Over Swift Approval
Nature Biotechnology
May 2009
http://www.cmpi.org/in-the-news/in-the-news/fda-picks-may-stress-safety-over-swift-approval/
Countries With Universal Health Coverage Are Economically Worse Off Than The U.S.
Reason
By Shikha Dalmia
May 2009
But whatever else universal coverage might bring, there is no evidence that it will bring economic nirvana. If anything, contrary to what the president suggests, the correlation runs the other way for countries with universal coverage such as Canada, England, France, Germany, and Japan. On nearly every economic front, their performance has been worse than America's—even, surprisingly, in controlling health care costs.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/133344.html
Myth Of A Pain-Free Health Plan
Denver Post
By Vincent Carroll
May 2009
"I wonder if you could talk to people about how going to the doctor will be different in the future," a New York Times reporter asked the president recently. "How they will experience medical care differently on the other side of health care reform."
Naturally, Barack Obama refused the reporter's bait. The last thing the president wants in the run-up to the great wrangle over health care reform this year is to stoke fears that his plan will result in government micromanaging treatment. After all, it's not the experience of medical care that troubles most Americans. It's the cost. (And sometimes access, if they're among the 15 percent who are uninsured.)
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_12293383
To Reform Health Care, Create A Real Marketplace
Politico
By Representative Tom Price (R-GA)
May 2009
As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, I have been as vocally concerned as any in Congress about the priorities set forth by President Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership. As a physician, however, one area in which we agree is that we can no longer put off reform of our terribly broken health care system.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21944.html
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UPCOMING CMPI EVENT
The Odyssey Project
Medical Innovation: The 21st Century Solution for 21st Century Health Care
Thursday, May 14, 2009 9:30am – 10:30 am
National Press Club
Holeman Lounge
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
Introduction by Former Congressman Mike Ferguson, Senior Fellow, CMPI
The Honorable Mike Rogers, (R-MI), House Subcommittee on Health
The Honorable Anna Eshoo, (D-CA) Vice Chair, 21st Century Health Care Caucus
Elijah Alexander, President, Tackle Myeloma Foundation
Former NFL Linebacker Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts
John F. Crowley, President & CEO, Amicus Therapeutics, Founder, JohnFCrowley.org
To RSVP to this event, please email Meryl Reichbach at mreichbach@cmpi.org or call 212-417-9169 |
