On 10/13/2013 9:33 PM, wrote:
I happened to see Andy Grove giving a lecture at Berkley on
TV recently. This healthcare thing has been of some interest
to him for a long time now. He gave an example of one kind
of problem. The FDA was given the authority in the 60's to
determine if a drug was not only safe, but "effective". If
they say it's effective, then healthcare providers pretty
much have to give it to you. So
you have a cancer drug that studies show prolongs the life
of patients that without it die in 2 years. The drug extends
the life expectancy by two months. But per the FDA law, it
meets the definition of effective. So, we have insurance
companies, Medicare, Medicaid, paying for the drug. The cost?
$80K per year for one patient.


One friend of mine, has chronic back pain. One pain med
works OK, to help reduce her pain. But, due to federal
guidelines, they are trying to change her over to a more
politically correct med -- which doesn't help, and she's
in pain again. I'm not pleased with neckties in DC telling
a practicing medical doctor in NY what he cannot prescribe.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..