Three leading Democratic Congressmen are wondering why companies and researchers who run clinical trials are systematically failing to file final outcomes data on ClinicalTrials.gov as required by the 2007 FDA reform law. A series of articles in January in the British Medical Journal found that only 22 percent of 738 trials reported in 2009 had outcomes data.
Gooz News
Providing for an aging society
An interesting exchange took place during Federal Reserve Board chairman’s Ben Bernanke’s appearance before the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday. A Republican backbencher, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, asked whether the government can “extract more than 18.1 percent of GDP” in taxes without damaging the economy.
Racing to nowhere
I had dinner over the weekend with a close friend who is a breast cancer survivor (her word) and a former avid participant in the annual marathons sponsored by the Susan B. Komen Foundation. Her status as a former activist was new. “Is this what we were racing for?” she said. She is skeptical by nature, and the brouhaha over Komen’s back-and-forth over funding Planned Parenthood last week didn’t make her angry. It merely flipped the switch that changes skepticism into cynicism. To paraphrase the old Phil Ochs song, she ain’t a marchin’ anymore.
Massachusetts miracle: Romney’s health care reform plan works
It’s too bad former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney doesn’t want to talk about his state’s health care reform legislation on the campaign trail. If he did, he’d have a pretty good story to tell.
The reform plan, which President Obama used as a model for the national reform, lifted the number of insured residents in the Bay State from 86.6 percent in 2006 to 94.2 percent in 2010, according to a new study published yesterday by Health Affairs.
Stents for stroke prevention a risky proposition
Sen. Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois, suffered a debilitating stroke on Monday, a tragedy for him and his family. Ironically, it occurred on the eve of one of the more important Medicare meetings of the year, which convened Wednesday at the Baltimore headquarters of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to discuss the best ways to prevent strokes in at-risk older adults.
Private equity’s sweet tax deal
The Great Recession was preceded by a massive run-up in private sector debt, and not just by overstretched homebuyers snapping up bubble-era priced houses. Corporate borrowing also rose sharply. But even though both forms of borrowing are heavily subsidized by the government through deductions on interest, only one – the home mortgage deduction – is on the chopping block in the tax reform debate.
A theory on why the FDA hid conflicts of interest
Much has been made of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ decision last month to overrule Food and Drug Administration scientists and prohibit the over-the-counter sale of the morning after pill to minors. Many observers blasted the move as a blatant political move by the White House, which didn’t want to antagonize social conservatives ahead of this year’s election.
Recession drives lower health spending
The Great Recession has achieved what 20 years of policy machinations in Washington could not. For the second straight year, the world’s most expensive health-care system did not gobble up a greater share of the nation’s economy. In fact, health care grew at a slightly slower pace.
The war on health care fraud needs a champion
Regular readers of this blog know how much importance I attach to the war on waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs (see posts here and here).
Anyone who cares deeply about providing health care for all our citizens needs to make this a high priority, since taxpayers won’t long support those in need if the programs that deliver services aren’t protected from theft.
Final thoughts from a dying cancer researcher
Medicare fraud cases on the rise
Federal prosecutors brought a record number of cases of health care fraud in fiscal 2011, a new report said, with Florida and its huge Medicare-dependent population remaining the epicenter of fraudulent claims.