THE TIMES MAKES MOORE'S POINT: The New York Times front page story "Market Forces Cited in Lymphoma Drugs’ Disuse" on Saturday was a chilling case in point as to how the profit motive perverts American health care (per Ezra, Michael Moore et al.) The piece explains how Bexxar and Zevalin, federally approved drugs for lymphoma, are often not prescribed by doctors purely for monetary reasons, even when they might save lives. Dr. Oliver W. Press, a professor at the University of Washington and chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation, called it "astounding and disappointing” that they are used so little. According to the Times, oncologists have financial incentives to use other treatments that they are paid to administer, rather than merely the treatments that are the most medically and economically effective. Imagine, instead, if we paid doctors to treat patients successfully. Sounds like a recipe for better outcomes and lower costs. But only a socialist would support such a system, right? --Ben Adler
