Harvard

Hallowed Halls.

Top is tops – number one is number one – once you’ve reached the apex of your field, no one can claim to be better.

America is known worldwide for the excellence of its higher education – witness the large number of foreign national students at our universities. This year, the best of our best is Harvard University, according to the US News and World Report list. Harvard displaced perennial front-runner Princeton for the top honors this year.



Harvard also scored a two-fer this year. Not only did the University receive top honors, but Harvard Medical Scholl was also named number one.

There is little surprise in this recent ranking – Harvard is almost universally recognized as as being at the pinnacle of higher education. In addition to educational excellence, Harvard is also recognized for its high moral standards as well – Harvard Gentlemen (and Ladies) are expected to represent and maintain the best social and ethical standards.

Agreed?

Well, this makes it especially surprising and revolting that a top professor at Harvard Medical Scholl was caught with his hand in the cookie jar – a cookie jar belonging to Big Pharm.



It seems that leading child psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Biederman of Harvard Medical School failed to report over 1.6 million dollars in funding that he received from the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Biederman single-handedly increased (by a factor of 40) the diagnosis of childhood Bipolar disorder. He is also, not so coincidentally, a leading proponent of treating children with powerful (and expensive) anti-psychotic prescription drugs.

You can read all the dirty details here:

http://news.injuryboard.com/harvard-psychiatrist-must-suspend-clinical-trials-over-conflicts.aspx?googleid=254242#ixzz1BPWdTDe5





As a result of this debacle, Dr. Biederman could lose his position at Harvard (not an easy thing to do to a tenured professor). He is also being sued by parents who claim that their children were harmed by the drugs he recommended. And the reputation of Harvard Medical School has a nice new thick coat of tarnish.




How could this happen? Why would pharmaceutical companies exert undue influence on a respected Medical Researcher? Well, this question becomes far less baffling when you follow the money. Here’s a partial list of some of the medications involved in the scandal as well as the monthly costs associated with their use (from Drugstore.com):

Abilify - $600
Zyprexa - $300-$900
Seroquel - $150 - $250
Geodon - $200-$250



Multiply these figures by the thousands of pediatric patients, who take this drug each and every month, year after year, and it’s easy to see how that 1.6 million dollar ‘contribution’ is just a drop in the bucket for the pharmaceutical industry.

More importantly, it becomes clear to everyone just how much influence that Big Pharm has on us and our health (fiscal and otherwise).

Sadly, the aftermath of this incident is beyond tragic. Thousands of innocent children may have been permanently affected by the misapplication of these medications. A renowned professor may have lost his career. And the Number One Medical School in the country has just stepped in a big stinky pile of Number Two.





–
***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Who are you? Do you agree with me, disagree with me, or have another perspective to share?

PLEASE put your 2 cents in by leaving a comment or email me at HealthcareBlog@SystematixOnline.com



Thanks for reading!


Free Blog Counter

Submit Blog - Promote Blog


blogs jar candles allie marie

Top Stories

Pee-flation

Inflation is a fact of life. Most things get more expensive as time goes by. This is especially true in the world of Health Care. And inflation can be found in the most unusual of places.

Consider, if you will, the world of vitamins and supplements. As a long-time proponent of nutritional supplements, I have had to endure the same mantra over and over again from the medical community and its’ minions. It has been explained to me, ad nauseum, that the human body does not store excess vitamins, but passes them out immediately. It was therefore foolish and wasteful for anyone to take vitamin supplements. Almost every doctor I have ever discussed this with had the same contrite saying on the subject:

“All you are doing is making expensive urine”




Regardless of this medical advice, I have continued to take vitamins and supplements over the years. Maybe my urine was more expensive then most, but it wasn’t that expensive. By ordering my supplements via mail order, I was able to purchase them for very little money. Besides, I thought, what do Doctor’s know? Even they admit that they are licensed only to “practice” medicine. Hey Doc - give me a call once you get this medicine thing worked out and you’re done practicing.

Another benefit of using supplements is that they made me feel good about myself. Maybe I don't drive a fancy car or live in an expensive house, but at least I could wee wee like Warren Buffet.

Over the years, it seems that the medical outlook on supplements was starting to ease off. Pediatricians started recommending vitamin supplements for their patients. Expectant Moms were ordered to take pre-natal vitamins. It slowly became medically acceptable for certain patients to have expensive pee.



As the years passed, more and more articles were published extolling the benefits of nutritional supplements, but these were usually dismissed by medical professionals. Research not performed by a big Pharmaceutical Corporation could not be relied upon. Often, these articles were seen as yellow journalism.

Fast forward to the present age, and it seems that it’s now OK to use certain supplements. In 2010, prescription Fish Oil tablets were all the rage. Now, in 2011, the big push is on for Prescription Vitamin D supplements.

The key word thus far is “Prescription”. The same supplements that I have been using for years are now being produced by Big Pharm and marketed through Medical Offices – at a cost often 10-20 times what the same dosage would cost you – without a prescription – from a mail order supplier.



It seems to me that, thanks to Big Pharm, a lot of people are making REALLY Expensive Urine. I’m talking Tinkle that is worthy of Tiffany's.

Even with a prescription plan, the co-payment for these prescription supplements id going to be 3-4 times higher than the cost of buying the equivalent dosage mail order.

The bottom line? If you are buying prescription supplements, you’re just pissing your money away. And contributing to health care inflation at the same time.




And that’s just flushing your money down the toilet.





***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Who are you? Do you agree with me, disagree with me, or have another perspective to share?

PLEASE put your 2 cents in by leaving a comment or email me at HealthcareBlog@SystematixOnline.com



Thanks for reading!

Free Blog Counter

Submit Blog - Promote Blog


blogs jar candles allie marie

Top Stories

The Flying Nun

Ah yes – another favorite TV show from my youth. This series – featuring a 90 pound novice nun whos unique habit caused her to levitate in a stiff breeze – made Sally Fields a superstar (Gidget? That was before my time).

Sally went on to groundbreaking roles in Norma Rae and the Miracle worker – not to mention her role in those Smokey and the Bandit movies.




Sally has been one of America’s most beloved and respected actresses, winning two Oscars for Best Actress, plus countless other awards and nominations. Her busy career continues even today, with her role in the hit ‘Brothers and Sisters” TV Drama, where she plays the family matriarch.


Which leads me to wonder – why does this respected actress work as a shill for Boniva, a prescription medication for osteoporosis? Well, it turns out that Sally does suffer from this disease, and she probably does use Boniva herself. But still, why does she sully herself as a spokesperson for this pill?

My guess – the good folks at Roche Therapeutics Inc., manufacturers of Boniva, probably threw a boatload of money at her to do these commercials.

But still – Sally surely doesn’t come cheap – how can Roche afford her?

Well, after doing a little research, it turns out that Boniva doesn’t come cheap either.

According to Drugstore.com, Boniva costs a ludicrous $400 per pill. In case you think I miss-typed a decimal point, that’s Four Hundred Dollars a pill. One pill. Thank goodness you only take it once a month.

Grabbing some perspective, your Boniva habit will cost you about the same as a monthly lease on a mid-range Lexus. You’re paying around $74,000.00 an ounce for ibandronate sodium, the active ingredient in Boniva.

Of course, those of us with prescription drug coverage will never notice the price tag – until next year’s rate increase for your prescription plan comes through.

And for those of you without a prescription plan, forget about trading in your ten year old Hyundai just yet – at $400.00 a pop, even millionaire playboy and casino owner Carlos Ramirez would feel the sting of that pricey little pill.



Well, at least Sister Bertrille doesn’t have to worry so much about breaking a leg during a rough landing.

***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Who are you? Do you agree with me, disagree with me, or have another perspective to share?

PLEASE put your 2 cents in by leaving a comment or email me at HealthcareBlog@SystematixOnline.com



Thanks for reading!

Free Blog Counter

Submit Blog - Promote Blog


blogs jar candles allie marie

Top Stories

Pop Warner

Oh the joys of Pee-Wee football. I can still hear the calls of a pint-sized quarterback echoing in my ears:

31- Blue - 31 – Blue – 59 – HIKE!

Oh wait – that’s not a midget QB – that’s an executive at California Blue Cross. They recently requested rate hikes as much as 59% for its subscribers.

Pity poor California BC/BS – they are blaming these rate hikes on increased expenditures for hospital care and prescription drug coverage.



Granted, both of these areas are way overpriced, and contribute to the uber-inflation in our health care system – which makes them easy scapegoats for Johnny Wong, head Spin Doctor out at California BC/BS. Mr. Wong also blames rising provider fees, greater use of medical services by its members, and, get this, “the fact that healthier people are dropping coverage during a bad economy,”

In other words, people who don’t have an immediate need for health care coverage are deciding that they can no longer afford it. So, instead of trying to make health insurance more affordable, they are just going to hose the people who have no choice but to pay these outrageous premiums.

Yes, Mr. Wong, health care expenditures continue to rise at an alarming rate. Tell you what – show us where hospital and physician fees, prescription drug costs, and other health care expenditures by your company have risen by 59% over the last 12 months, and we’ll grant you your rate hike. Otherwise, let’s have the good citizens of California run you and the other overpaid executives at California BC/BS out of the State on a rail. They’ll even throw ina good tar and feathering in order to send a clear message to executives at other abusive ‘non-profit’ health insurers. We’ll give you a week to gather your numbers – in the meantime, we’ll be gathering up some feathers.

Not so fast, pleads Mr. Wong - “Even with these rate increases, Blue Shield of California expects to lose tens of millions of dollars on its individual health care business in both 2010 and 2011”. So I ask Mr. Wong “What cost-saving measures are being undertaken by California BC/BS to make up that shortfall before you decided to announce that 59% rate hike?” You know things like cutting executive pay and benefits, and getting rid of non-essential employees like Spin Doctors?



As the regular readers of my blog will recognize, California BC/BS’s antics are just an attempt to make as much hay as possible while the sun is still shining, before 2014 when National Health Care Reform will put an end to their raping of the health care consumer

And they pay their Spin Doctors to come up with new and exciting justifications for their dirty deeds. And that’s just Wong.

Yes, boys and girls, in today’s world, you can’t spell ‘BC/BS’ without ‘BS”.

***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Who are you? Do you agree with me, disagree with me, or have another perspective to share?

PLEASE put your 2 cents in by leaving a comment or email me at HealthcareBlog@SystematixOnline.com



Thanks for reading!

Free Blog Counter

Submit Blog - Promote Blog


blogs jar candles allie marie

Top Stories

Decapitated

We're gonna take you and the Queen
Down to the guillotine
It's somewhere in the heart of town
And when that fella's through
With what he's gonna do,
You'll have no place to hang your crown

You Went The Wrong Way, Old King Louie
by Allan Sherman


First of all, props to Mr. Allan Sherman, the Weird Al" Yankovic of my parent’s generation. I used to love listening to his schtick as a little boy, including this aforementioned chestnut.

Secondly, you gotta hand it to the French … at least the French as they were 200 plus years ago. I am referring to the days of the French revolution. They certainly knew how to deal with a problem.

The French revolution still contributes so much to our modern pop culture. The vision of the guillotine, although I would venture that none of us have ever seen one in action, elicits a strong visceral response with most of us. Decapitation is a very strong statement.

Today I learned of a new type of decapitation, one that is taking place all around us, even though most of us are totally unaware of it. It is decapitation that is being performed by our health insurance carriers.

Let’s rewind 25 years or so to the days when the HMO was in it’s infancy. This new form of health insurance was a radical idea that had to be sold to the subscriber (patient) as well as the provider (doctor).

The selling point to the patient was cost control. Why spend $50 for a doctor visit when you can just join our HMO and pay just a small $2.00 co-pay? The providers were a bit harder sell. They were told that everyone would soon join a HMO and they would need to join the HMO network in order to retain their patient base. Sure, they would receive less money per visit, but this would be offset by a guaranteed patient volume as well as another new concept – capitation.

Capitation was a simple proposal. The primary care physician would become the front line health care provider to a finite group of HMO patients – perhaps several thousand in number. In addition to the co-pay that the provider would collect from the patient each visit, the provider would be paid a monthly fee for each patient that they were responsible for in the HMO – perhaps $10 a patient. This capitation fee was paid whether or not the doctor ever saw a patient – it was an automatic payment each and every month. Many providers found this concept too good to pass up and eagerly joined various HMO networks. Unfortunately for the providers, most found themselves over utilized by the HMO patients, and ended up with a financially losing proposition.

Fast forward, now, to the present day. The rascally HMO companies have slowly but surely changed the entire game in their favor. On the patient side, HMO co-pays have risen substantially. And they now pay as much as a $50 co-pay for each doctor’s visit. In other words, the fiscal advantage of the HMO has all but been erased from the patient’s point of view. Now, the other shoe has dropped on the provider side. Mercy Health Plans, a large Philadelphia based HMO, has recently informed their in-network providers that they are eliminating the monthly capitation fees.

This, of course, leaves more of the money pie for the HMO.

You can be assured that other HMO’s will follow Mercy’s lead if Mercy gets away with this chicanery – and there is no reason why the shouldn’t be able to. The providers cannot simply ‘get out’ of an HMO network without facing a litany of legal obstacles, including patient abandonment – a serious for of medical malpractice. As providers start leaving their HMO networks, you can be certain of an all-out marketing blitz by the malpractice attorneys. Look or the TV commercials on ‘The Price is Right’ - right after the Hoveround spot.


Yes, heads will certainly roll on this move by Mercy – which, by the way, another alliterative that we can attribute to the French Revolutionists.





Snails, anyone?


–
***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Who are you? Do you agree with me, disagree with me, or have another perspective to share?

PLEASE put your 2 cents in by leaving a comment or email me at HealthcareBlog@SystematixOnline.com



Thanks for reading!

Free Blog Counter

Submit Blog - Promote Blog


blogs jar candles allie marie

Top Stories

Nature’s Bounty

Western Medicine is finally learning to appreciate all that Mother Nature has to offer in the form of medicinal herbs and health foods. Following is a partial list of foods and herbal supplements with proven health benefits. The best thing about these natural wonders is that they are readily available over the internet, from a health food store, or even your local market. You won't need prescription to enjoy all the benefits that these natural wonders offer. Plus, they only cost a few dollars for a monthly dose!

Medicinal Herbs and Healthy Foods From Mother Nature:

• Acai
• Acerola
• Agave Nectar
• Alfalfa
• Almonds
• Aloe Vera
• American Ginseng
• Anise
• Antler Velvet
• Apricot
• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Avena Sativa
• Avocado Oil




• Barberry
• Barley
• Beet
• Bilberry
• Bitter Melon
• Black Cherry
• Black Cohosh
• Black Currant
• Bladderwrack
• Blessed Thistle
• Blueberry
• Blue-Green Algae
• Boswellia Serrata
• Brazil Nuts
• Brewer's Yeast
• Broccoli
• Bromelain
• Buckthorn Bark
• Buckwheat
• Burdock Root
• Butcher's Broom
• Butterbur
• Cactus (Nopal)
• Camu Camu
• Cashews
• Cat's Claw
• Catuaba Bark
• Cayenne
• Celery Seed
• Cha de Bugre
• Chamomile
• Chanca Piedra
• Chaparral
• Chasteberry
• Chia Seed
• Chickweed
• Chili Powder
• Chinese Scullcap
• Chives
• Cinnamon
• Citrus Peel
• Clove
• Cocoa
• Coconut
• Coffee
• Coffeeberry
• Corn Silk
• Cranberry
• Dandelion
• Dates
• Devil's Claw
• Dill
• Dong Quai
• Echinacea
• Elderberry
• Eleuthero Root
• Eucalyptus
• Evening Primrose
• Eyebright
• Fennel
• Fenugreek
• Feverfew
• Figs
• Flaxseed
• Flower Pollen
• Frankincense Oil
• Garlic
• Geranium Oil
• Ginger Oil
• Ginger Root
• Ginkgo Biloba
• Ginseng
• Goji
• Goldenseal
• Gotu Kola
• Grapefruit
• Grapeseed
• Graviola
• Green Tea
• Gripe Water
• Guarana
• Guggul
• Gymnema Sylvestre




• Hawthorn
• Hemp
• Hemp Seed Oil
• Henna
• Herbiotic
• Himalayan Salt
• Holy Basil
• Honey
• Hoodia Gordonii
• Hops
• Horehound
• Horny Goat Weed
• Horse Chestnut
• Horsetail Grass
• Hydrangea
• Hydrilla
• Hyssop
• Jasmine
• Jojoba
• Jujube
• Juniper Berries
• Kamut
• Kelp
• Kola Nut
• Kudzu
• Kyoto
• Lavender Oil
• Lemon Oil
• Lemongrass
• Licorice
• Lime Oil
• Linden Flower
• Maca
• Macadamia Nut Oil
• Maitake
• Maqui
• Marigold
• Marijuana*
• Mastic Gum
• Matcha Tea
• Milk Thistle



• Mint
• Momordica
• Motherwort
• Mucuna Pruriens
• Muira Puama
• Mulberry Leaf
• Myrrh Gum
• Neem Leaf
• Neti Pot
• Nettle (Stinging)
• Noni
• Nutmeg
• Oat Bran
• Olive Leaf
• Olive Oil
• Oregano
• Oyster
• Papaya
• Paprika
• Parsley
• Passion Flower
• Patchouli
• Pau d'Arco
• Pea Protein
• Peppercorns
• Peppermint
• Pine Bark
• Pineapple
• Pistachios
• Pomegranate
• Prunes
• Pumpkin
• Raisins
• Raspberry
• Red Clover
• Red Grapefruit
• Red Marine Algae
• Red Palm Oil
• Red Yeast Rice
• Reishi
• Rose Hips
• Rose Oil
• Rosemary
• Rosewood Oil
• Rye Grass




• Saffron
• Sage
• Salba
• Sarsaparilla Root
• Saw Palmetto
• Sea Buckthorn
• Senna Leaf
• Sesame
• Shatavari
• Shea Butter
• Shiitake
• Shilajit
• Slippery Elm
• Soy Bran
• Spanish Black Radish
• Spearmint Oil
• St. John's Wort
• Stevia
• Suma Root
• Tangerine
• Thyme
• Tomatoes
• Turkey Rhubarb
• Turmeric
• Valerian
• Velvet Antler
• Walnuts
• Wasabi
• Wheat Bran
• Wheat Germ
• Whey
• White Willow Bark
• Wild Yam
• Wintergreen Oil
• Witch Hazel
• Wolfberry
• Wood Betony
• Wormwood
• Yarrow
• Ylang Ylang Oil
• Yucca

* My mistake. Marijuana for medicinal use is only available in 14 states, and then only with a prescription. Use of marijuana in the remaining 36 states, or without a prescription, will typically cost you 1 to 4 years of your life.




Enjoy (most of) Nature's Bounty and have a happy and healthy holiday everyone!


***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Who are you? Do you agree with me, disagree with me, or have another perspective to share?

PLEASE put your 2 cents in by leaving a comment or email me at HealthcareBlog@SystematixOnline.com



Thanks for reading!

Free Blog Counter

Submit Blog - Promote Blog


blogs jar candles allie marie

Top Stories