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Steve Pearlstein has some very sensible things to say about Comparative Effectiveness Review. I'd add that it is borderline insane -- I mean seriously, totally, crackers -- that there is actual controversy over funding research to help us make more informed and value-conscious decisions. Health care now absorbs almost one out of every five dollars in the U.S. economy. There is irrefutable evidence that it's wildly wasteful. Their is irrefutable evidence that the cost growth poses an actual fiscal threat to our economy. And we're arguing not about how to get it under control, but whether we can even commission research so we know more about which treatments offer the best value under which circumstances. As I said, utterly bananas. Which is not to say that no one is acting rationally. Waste, remember, is also profit. Pearlstein writes:
This right-wing brushfire didn't start on its own, of course. It was a work of political arson by the country's drugmakers and medical device makers, which have the most to lose if there is solid research showing that some of their most expensive and high-margin products aren't really better than the low-priced spread.Betsy McCaughey, you'll be unsurprised to learn, is not only employed by a think tank that's funded by the drug industry, but is currently on the board of a medical device company.
