TODAY’S HEALTHCARE NEWS….Just in case you’ve been getting a little too optimistic about the prognosis for serious healthcare reform this year, here’s a couple of pieces of light reading to bring you down to earth.
First up, the Wall Street Journal explains that a $1.1 billion provision in the stimulus bill to fund research comparing medical treatments is in trouble. Why? Because pharma and device companies don’t really want anyone finding out just how effective their treatments are. Full story here.
Second, Michelle Cottle deconstructs a story about a lobbying war over electronic medical records. Pretty much everyone from Tom Daschle to Newt Gingrich is in favor of this, so what’s the problem? Answer: drug companies want to make sure that privacy provisions don’t prevent them from paying hospitals and pharmacies to hawk their latest wonder drugs to their customers. Full post here.
Just another day in the healthcare trenches. I can hardly wait til we get to the hard stuff.
