Free Republic

https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1629896593393750016?cxt=HHwWgMDU3Z2Ux54tAAAA

They work for the government and even their closest relatives have no idea what they do. It’s not because they’re spies or nuclear scientists, but because their jobs are so arcane: trying to reinvent Medicare to improve it, and maybe save taxpayers money. In a sprawling, nondescript office park near Baltimore, some 360 people at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation are trying to change the health care system, using the government’s premier insurance program as leverage. If they prevail, the U.S. may no longer have the worst of both worlds: unsustainable spending and unenviable results. […] Because the...

...Which brings us to the politically motivated attack on FDA Deputy Commissioner Scott Gottlieb -- one of the fellow forward thinkers Dr. Eschenbach will find at the agency. In its zeal to find more "cronyism" in the Bush Administration, Time fingered Dr. Gottlieb this week without offering any evidence of any special connections to the White House -- family or otherwise. Time seems bothered that Dr. Gottlieb is young and recently worked in the private sector part-time as editor of a medical technology newsletter. Largely ignored by Time is Dr. Gottlieb's previous experience in a substantial policy-making FDA role under...

...FDA oncology drugs chief Richard Pazdur is the most important person in the U.S. government when it comes to cancer drugs, and he has never made a secret that he dislikes the accelerated approval process under which Iressa got the green light. Nor has he been shy about suggesting that the agency was railroaded in this drug's case. The truth is that Iressa-maker AstraZeneca simply refused to play by Dr. Pazdur's rules. In 2002 -- knowing it had plenty of data to qualify for accelerated approval -- the company rebuffed his requests for more trials and appealed directly to something...

WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson resigned Friday, The Associated Press learned, broadening an exodus that has emptied more than half of President Bush's Cabinet before he takes the oath of office for a second term. Thompson submitted his resignation to Bush, and planned to announce his departure at a Friday afternoon news conference, said an official close to the former Wisconsin governor who asked not to be identified. Mark McClellan, the government's Medicare chief and brother of White House press secretary Scott McClellan, is Thompson's likely successor, officials said. Thompson's resignation brings to eight the number...

Texas' Republican comptroller tough, ticked off and proud of it AUSTIN (AP) — A needlepoint decoration hanging in the office of state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn hints at her tough reputation — "One Ticked Off Grandma." That line from a title of a magazine article on Strayhorn plays off the political slogan "one tough grandma" that she uses to describe her efforts to improve the health and education of Texas children. The large ax hanging on another wall, a gift from timber growers, and the plentiful family photographs show the contrasts of a woman who's gone from Austin's first female...