Health junction

U.S. residents pay too much for their prescription drugs and medical supplies, which reflects on our cost-plus reimbursement practice which is fueled through insurance reimbursement, whether government or private sector. This article reviews some pharmaceutical companies which are offering greater transparency and value for their products. Transparency from a Drug Manufacturer AstraZeneca, PLC, a UK pharmaceutical company recently published the results of its study on the blood thinner, Brillanta, which was used to prevent secondary heart attacks for stroke patients, and declared it performed no better than aspirin. [1] Stop the presses, this may not be a first, but it is unusual for a drug company to declare that its product is not effective, but then again this is in Europe where drug manufacturers can�t market their products directly to consumers and governments contract with pharmaceutical providers directly. This level of transparency should be encouraged in the U.S. where clinic...

Recently, both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have published articles about oncologists' new consumer tool to gauge the effectiveness of cancer drugs. This effort was spurred after harsh rebukes of the pharmaceutical industry from clinicians at the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School.  Both of the "Times" articles cite information from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article, which ranked cancer fighting drugs from 2009 through 2013 for effectiveness and cost. (1) Oncologists have embraced this new consumer decision aide as it provides health care purchasers and their families with another basis for decision making. And, as it often turns out, the most expensive medication is not necessarily the most effective. Using a scale of 0 to 130 rating system, the cancer drug treatments are ranked for efficacy. Here are the most expensive oncology medications, based on the analysis of experts at JAMA in this study, costs are expressed annual...

Here are the latest conclusions from the 2015 Road to Rightcare by the doctor-driven Lown Institute, which aims to prevent unnecessary and ineffective procedures and enhance patient health. To quote one of the conference speakers, America Bracho, M.D., "Health is more than the absence of disease." Become a more powerful practitioner and patient by signing-up for the Rightcare newsletter and to learn more about the practices this multi-disciplinary group is promoting.   Cardiac Care Percutaneous Coronary Intervention or Angioplasty As incredible as it may seem there are thousands of unnecessary and non-beneficial cardiac procedures performed each year in the U.S. Here are the summary notes from the Lown Conference Cardiac Care presentation by Dr. William Boden, FACC, FAHA, Professor of Medicine, Albany Medical College and Chief of Medicine at Stratton VA Medical Center. For patients with chronic and stable angina, the benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention, which invol...

Outbreak in Preventable Childhood Diseases On the Rise in the United States The measles outbreak in the nation has been on the rise for the past two years, but is nearly at epidemic proportions now. http://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html   There are 141 cases of measles in 17 states so far in 2015. This chart from the CDC shows the states which have the most outbreaks of measles.  Measles, is a preventable childhood disease for which an immunization (a shot) is usually given to a child when the child reaches nineteen to thirty-five months of age. Measles causes red spots, fever, and in some cases can result in death. This article reviews changes in childhood immunization patterns, which were reported for all fifty states in Unraveling U.S. Healthcare-A Personal Guide, published in 2013.  Information is drawn from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is inclusive of 2013 calendar year data. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6334a1.htm?s...

What State Medicaid Expansions May look like in 2014 This article reviews the draft model for one state�s answer to the Medicaid Expansion under the Accountable Care Act. Washington State has posted the preliminary benchmarks and plan design for accommodating this act. [1] Warning to readers-this article may contain acronyms which are mind numbing, but part of the lumbering vernacular, and wherever possible the full name is cited. Medicaid Eligibility   To start with there are a dozen categories of �fast track� exemptions for Medicaid applicants and here is that list: Health care for disabled workers Family planning extension (more on this later) Take charge family planning (whoa Nelly) Psychologically indigent inpatient program (example-homeless folks) Involuntary treatment act (hopefully this will apply to some of the nut-jobs who manage to obtain machine guns) Kidney disease program (for those on dialysis) ADATSA(Alcohol Drug Addiction Treatment Support Act) Social Security Inc...