December 4, 2008 Newsletter

Dear CMPI Friends,

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

CMPI NEWS
www.cmpi.org

Lessons From The South
The Journal of Life Sciences
By Peter Pitts
December 2, 2008

Healthcare Technology Assessment is an innocuous sounding bit of bureaucratic-speak right down to its widely used acronym HTA. But it is not just a concept capturing the imagination of the penny-pinching set, which rightfully seeks to find means of measuring the cost, effectiveness and long-term impacts of specific technologies. Today, it’s a force readying to reshape healthcare not only in the United States, but across the globe.

http://www.tjols.com/staging/article-880.html

Don’t Revamp Medicare Drug Plan
The Press-Enterprise
By Peter Pitts
November 22, 2008

Once president, Barack Obama has promised that he'll sign a bill redesigning Medicare Part D so that the government can directly negotiate with drug companies. Granting Medicare this authority, however, would stymie one of the most effective public health care programs in history and stifle the next generation of life-saving therapies and cures.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/localviews/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_S_op_pitts_23_loc.3220434.html

The Perils of Serving At The Pleasure Of The President
The Journal of Life Sciences
By Peter Pitts
November 21, 2008

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration prides itself on being, first and foremost, all about science. So, how did the agency that regulates upwards of 30 percent of the U.S. economy get so caught up in tacking against biting political crosswinds? As a veteran of the regulatory wars, my argument is that the rocky seas began to roil when the position of FDA Commissioner was converted from a career position to a political position in the late 1960s. Prior to that time, the FDA chieftain was generally someone who had advanced through the ranks of the agency gaining experience and seasoning along the way. When the Commissioner’s position became Senate confirmable in the late 1980s, some believe an adverse change took place. Others believe that politics is just more contentious than ever before. Both of these notions are correct.

http://www.tjols.com/article-862.html

DRUGWONKS BLOG
www.drugwonks.com

Making NICE
By Robert Goldberg
December 3, 2008

In his discussion of how NICE covers or doesn't cover cancer drugs Gardiner Harris asserts that I "likened Dr. Rawlins (the head of NIC) and his institute to terrorists and said their decisions were morally indefensible."

Not true. I said that the NICE decision-making approach -- which takes years -- held patients hostage to a QALY measurement that only took into account what NICE thought was valuable to the NHS, not to the patients themselves. And I said that decision because of its perspective and delay was and will be morally indefensible. I stand by that view and stand by the people who lives are cut short and ruined by NICE.

http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6490

Commonwealth Fund Flunks Stats 101
By Peter Pitts
December 3, 2008

Nirit Weiss, MD (a neurosurgeon with a Master of Business Administration and a specialization in healthcare economics) has written a blistering appraisal of heavily reported and oft cited July 2008 Commonwealth Fund report, “Why Not the Best?”

After reading her analysis, perhaps a better title would have been “Why Not the Best Use of Statistics?”

In addition to entirely discrediting the report’s methodologies, the article (in a series of very disturbing sidebars) shows that the mainstream media was either lazy or complicit (or both) in reporting the story.

http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6487

CMPI VIDEO INTERVIEWS

Physician Disempowerment Conference:

http://cmpi.org/physician-disempowerment-event-presentations/

Interviews at US Congress:

http://www.biggovhealth.org/testimonials/policymakers/

CMPI 2008 REPORTS

The Patient-Centric Health Leadership Forum

http://www.cmpi.org/uploads/File/cmpi7-25.pdf

The Hazards of Harassing Doctors: Regulation and Reaction in Trans-Atlantic Healthcare

http://www.cmpi.org/PDFs/Reports/Hazards.pdf

Medicare Decision on Anemia Drugs Ignored Benefits of Drugs