Free Republic

We discussed the new computer model that supposedly can predict how much longer one has to live in the context of whether a patient should be told they have less than ten years.  But the NYT’s take on the same story raises another issue we only tangentially touched before; whether a computer program predicting how long a patient has to live could be put to pernicious heatlhcare rationing effect, similar to the “quality adjusted life year” (QALY) that was used by NICE to ration medicine in the UK.  From “Using Interactive Tools to Assess the Likelihood of Death:” Now, researchers at...

renton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Last Tuesday, the first day of the 215th session of the New Jersey Legislature, Assembly Bill 857 was introduced. Introduced by Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (R-24), A 857 would repeal New Jersey’s law which allows residents to purchase only one handgun per month. Current law states, “A dealer shall not knowingly deliver more than one handgun to any person within any 30-day period.” Supporters of gun rationing claim that this law is needed to prevent criminals from buying large quantities of handguns for illegal resale. The following are three reasons why gun rationing should be repealed: 1....

Earlier this week, Cam Edwards interviewed Dave Adams of the Virginia Shooting Sports Association about the potential repeal of Virginia's one-a-month handgun rationing law. As Dave notes, when he pointed out to an anti that when South Carolina repealed a similar law to Virginia's and it hadn't increased crime in South Carolina, she couldn't answer his question as to why Virginia even needed the law. That says it all.

The most common problem was "too much care," followed by the sense that other patients would have benefited more from intensive care, according to Dr. Ruth Piers of Ghent University Hospital in Belgium and colleagues. The researchers note in the Journal of the American Medical Association that other studies have found ICU physicians often feel they are treating patients whose chances of survival are slim to nothing. While it's unclear if the new findings apply in the U.S., one recent survey showed nearly half of American primary care physicians believe their patients are getting too much medical care (see Reuters...

Donald Berwick, the rationing advocate President Barack Obama nominated to head the U.S. Medicare and Medicaid programs in the face of opposition from pro-life advocates, has quite his post in the Obama administration. Because he is unable to get enough votes in the Senate to approve his nomination, his recess appointment will end and Berwick has decided to stop down from his position as the chief implementor of Obamacare, the health care law pro-life groups opposed because its prompts concerns about abortion funding, rationing, and fails to protect the conscience rights of medical workers.

When pro-life advocates list their reasons for opposing abortion-on-demand, they often cite their conviction that it is merely the first step toward even more grisly social engineering projects, including euthanasia for the old and infirm... [Snip] But such concerns will seem eminently reasonable to any open-minded reader who peruses the writings of Henry J. Aaron, the President's nominee for Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board. Like Obama's recess-appointed Medicare czar, Aaron is an unapologetic admirer of Great Britain's notorious socialized medical system, the National Health Service (NHS). Why? Because NHS administrators unabashedly practice the dark art of health care...

The Obama administration Friday revoked the approval of the best-selling drug Avastin for treating advanced breast cancer in the United States, despite appeals from distraught women, some patients advocates and the company that makes the drug. FDA Administrator Margaret Hamburg issued a 69-page decision outlining her decision, which was based on the recommendation of a six-member FDA advisory committee that unanimously concluded in June that the drug was harming women more than it was helping them. [Snip] ... Genentech spokesman Charlotte Arnold. “We are disappointed with this outcome. We remain committed to the many women with this incurable disease and...

Barack Obama’s appointment of Donald Berwick as the head of Medicare and Medicaid became so unpopular — even among moderate Senate Democrats — that Obama ended up making Berwick a recess appointment even before Berwick had submitted a full questionnaire to the Senate. That might happen once again with Obama’s latest entitlement program appointment, Henry J. Aaron, picked to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board. The Brookings Institution economist shares a lot in common with Berwick, including a love of the British system of rationing health care, reports the Weekly Standard, which finds this from Aaron in the 1980s:...

The 87-year-old mother did not have long to live. Her arthritic body had withered to 80 pounds. The actual exam, mother struggled to open her legs wide enough for the procedure and then lay there, quietly crying. Mother died two months later. It was totally unnecessary. Unnecessary, perhaps, but surprisingly common. Patients (ARE) inundated by medical advertising clamor for extra tests.

The British medical journal Lancet reported last month that 32% of elderly American patients undergo surgery in the year before they die, a statistic culled from Medicare data. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Amy Kelley of Mount Sinai School of Medicine labeled the 32% figure a "call to action"—to reduce costly surgeries, intensive-care stays and other high-intensity care for the elderly. Her call was parroted in hundreds of media outlets nationwide. But advocates for limiting health-care spending on the elderly are distorting science to make their argument. Don't be bamboozled: The Lancet investigators looked only at patients who died...

In fact, the AMA now only counts about 17% of doctors as members. According to a new survey, the majority of doctors do not believe that the AMA represents their views and interests. Much of that dissatisfaction stems from the organization's support for President Obama’s contentious health care reform package. That shouldn't be surprising. The AMA declares that its core mission is to "help doctors help patients." But ObamaCare undermines that pursuit by making life harder for physicians and driving down the quality of care available to patients. The survey - conducted by physician recruitment firm Jackson & Coker -...

Forty-two percent of US doctors believe that their patients are getting too much medical care, according to a survey published Monday which suggests fears of malpractice suits may be to blame. A total of 28 percent said they felt they were treating their patients too aggressively, while 45 percent said one of every 10 patients they saw daily had issues that could have been dealt with by phone, by email or by a nurse. Forty percent said they did not have enough time to spend with patients. The results are based on a mail survey that was filled out by...

Patients with terminal cancer should not be given life-extending drugs, doctors said yesterday. The treatments give false hope and are too costly for the public purse, they warned. The group of 37 cancer experts, including British specialist Karol Sikora, claimed a 'culture of excess' had led doctors to 'overtreat, overdiagnose and overpromise'. Campaigners dismissed the report, saying it was wrong to write off cancer victims. 'I would hardly call this type of treatment futile,' said Rose Woodward, of the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer.

The global economic impact of the five leading chronic diseases -- cancer, diabetes, mental illness, heart disease, and respiratory disease -- could reach $47 trillion over the next 20 years, according to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The estimated cumulative output loss caused by the illnesses, which together already kill more than 36 million people a year and are predicted to kill tens of millions more in future, represents around 4 percent of annual global GDP over the coming two decades, the study said. "This is not a health issue, this is an economic issue -- it...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Michael O'Neal is a pharmacist. He purchases drugs for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He often deals with drug shortages, but this one is bad. O'Neal is concerned about the availability of electrolytes. They are critical to a babies in neonatal intensive care and seriously ill adults. Electrolytes are administered to a critically ill patient for nutritional support intravenously. They are given to patients who cannot get their nutrition any other way. O'Neal said he's concerned that as supplies shrink, measures will have to be taken. "We are dangerously close, we believe, when we will have to ration...

The National Health Service in England is increasingly rationing standard operations that patients may have normally taken for granted — in a move that worries bioethicists in the United States. A new report in The Independent reveals how hip replacements, cataract surgery and tonsil removal are among the many operations that two-thirds of health trusts in England are now putting on a “non-urgent” list in an attempt to help save the government-run health care program $20 billion over the next four years. The newspaper reveals one third of health trusts have already expanded the list of rationed procedures in the...

Health service trusts are “imposing pain and inconvenience” by making patients wait longer than necessary, in some cases as long as four months, the study found. Executives believe the delays mean some people will remove themselves from lists “either by dying or by paying for their own treatment” claims the report, by an independent watchdog that advises the NHS. The Co-operation and Competition Panel says the tactic is one of a number used by managers that “excessively constrain” patients’ rights to choose where to be operated upon, and damage hospitals’ ability to compete for planned surgery. It claims unfair...

The NHS has begun rationing common surgical procedures such as hip replacements and cataracts removal in an effort to save money, it was revealed yesterday. New figures have found one in three Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England are reducing access to treatment for “non-urgent” operations. Examples of rationing include knee operations only being allowed to go ahead where patients are in severe pain, overweight patients being made to lose weight prior to procedures, and cataract patients being denied treatment until their sight problems seriously affect their ability to work. Chris Naylor, a senior researcher at the health think tank...

Te NHS has begun rationing common surgical procedures such as hip replacements and cataracts removal in an effort to save money, it was revealed yesterday. New figures have found one in three Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England are reducing access to treatment for “non-urgent” operations. Examples of rationing include knee operations only being allowed to go ahead where patients are in severe pain, overweight patients being made to lose weight prior to procedures, and cataract patients being denied treatment until their sight problems seriously affect their ability to work.

Drugs that slow progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) offer health gains to some at very high prices, a new study shows. The study seems likely to reignite the national debate about how best to rein in runaway health care costs. It found that adding an injectable disease-modifying drug to the treatment of MS patients roughly doubles the cost of care, while only providing small population-level improvements in survival and quality of life. Doctors who were not involved in the study were alarmed by its findings. "We know, unequivocally, that these drugs slow the progression of the disease and slow the...