"Is our healthcare system really in crisis?"
Thats a question Hank McKinnell, Chairman & CEO, PFIZER Inc., one of the world's most influential corporate leaders, encounters every day.
McKinnell agrees that there is a crisis, he doesn't think the problem is with "healthcare"......rather, he asserts the crisis is in "sick-care."
Healthcare systems around the world.
McKinnell argues, are focused on sickness and its management, rather than health.
As a result, dialogue about how to sustain health now takes a back seat to arguments about cost....containing it, avoiding it, or shifting it to someone else.
A near-universal belief that healthcare is becoming unaffordable, fragmented, and impersonal.
"Focusing only on the cost of care is looking at the healthcare problem though the wrong end of the telescope," says McKinnell, the chairman and CEO of Pfizer.
"The real focus shoud be on the horrific cost of disease."
In America, the "sick-care" system delivers the world's most sophisticated procedures, while skimping on vaccines, hapering the fight against AIDS, and intruding into one of life's most personal relationships.....doctor and patient.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Shocking Facts about the Pharmaceutical Industry
Big drug companies have been accused of putting profits above patients, spinning false PR campaigns and more.
Here are some of the most shocking facts about the pharmaceutical industry.
The price of drugs is increasing faster than anything else a patient pays for: The prices of the most heavily prescribed drugs are routinely jacked up, sometimes several times a year.
Some medications have a mark-up of 1,000 percent over the cost of their ingredients.
Your doctor may have an ulterior motive behind your prescription: Drug reps often give gifts to convince doctors to prescribe the medications that they represent.
These drug reps usually have no medical or science education.
Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than research: Almost twice as much!
Guilty of Medicare fraud: Pharmaceutical companies are being tried in federal courts as a result of their exploitation of Medicare.
AstraZeneca had to pay more than $340 million in penalties for coaching doctors to cheat Medicare.
The combined wealth of the top 5 pharmaceutical companies outweigh GNP of sub-Saharan Africa: In fact, the combined worth of the world’s top five drug companies is twice the combined GNP of that entire region.
Americans pay more for prescription meds than anyone else in the world: $200 billion in 2002 alone.
"New" Drugs aren't really new: Two-thirds of “new” prescription drugs are identical to existing drugs or modified versions of them.
Drug companies are taking advantage of underdeveloped countries to perform clinical trials: In developing countries, government oversight is more lax.
For more shocking facts, click the link below.
Sources:
Nursing Online Education Database March 27, 2008
Here are some of the most shocking facts about the pharmaceutical industry.
The price of drugs is increasing faster than anything else a patient pays for: The prices of the most heavily prescribed drugs are routinely jacked up, sometimes several times a year.
Some medications have a mark-up of 1,000 percent over the cost of their ingredients.
Your doctor may have an ulterior motive behind your prescription: Drug reps often give gifts to convince doctors to prescribe the medications that they represent.
These drug reps usually have no medical or science education.
Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than research: Almost twice as much!
Guilty of Medicare fraud: Pharmaceutical companies are being tried in federal courts as a result of their exploitation of Medicare.
AstraZeneca had to pay more than $340 million in penalties for coaching doctors to cheat Medicare.
The combined wealth of the top 5 pharmaceutical companies outweigh GNP of sub-Saharan Africa: In fact, the combined worth of the world’s top five drug companies is twice the combined GNP of that entire region.
Americans pay more for prescription meds than anyone else in the world: $200 billion in 2002 alone.
"New" Drugs aren't really new: Two-thirds of “new” prescription drugs are identical to existing drugs or modified versions of them.
Drug companies are taking advantage of underdeveloped countries to perform clinical trials: In developing countries, government oversight is more lax.
For more shocking facts, click the link below.
Sources:
Nursing Online Education Database March 27, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Assuring Health Care Coverage for All by AAFP
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) advocates adoption of a plan to assure health care for everyone.
The plan that AAFP proposes for consideration would cover everyone who resides within the U.S. borders and would guarantee basic services and payment of catastrophic health care costs.
Since the 1980s, the AAFP has called for fundamental reform of the US health care system.
People without coverage do not receive health care in a timely manner or in the right setting. As a result, they suffer poorer health outcomes.
Family physicians believe this country must make a deliberate investment in assuring basic health care coverage for everyone.
They believe that a system guaranteeing care would result in a healthier and more productive society.
click on link to their website............http://www.aafp.org
The plan that AAFP proposes for consideration would cover everyone who resides within the U.S. borders and would guarantee basic services and payment of catastrophic health care costs.
Since the 1980s, the AAFP has called for fundamental reform of the US health care system.
People without coverage do not receive health care in a timely manner or in the right setting. As a result, they suffer poorer health outcomes.
Family physicians believe this country must make a deliberate investment in assuring basic health care coverage for everyone.
They believe that a system guaranteeing care would result in a healthier and more productive society.
click on link to their website............http://www.aafp.org
High Performance Health System
To those who participate in the U.S. health care system—providers, consumers, purchasers, plans, and policymakers—it's clear that there's an urgent need for transformation.
The Commonwealth Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System seeks to move the U.S. toward a health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for those who are most vulnerable.
Research confirms what many observe firsthand: the system is fragmented and fraught with inefficiency.
While our pluralistic public-private "system" has many strengths, misaligned incentives among key stakeholders make reform a great challenge.
The United States spends well over twice the per-capita average of industrialized countries, but high spending on health care has not translated into better care or better outcomes.
Americans do not live as long as citizens of several other countries, and there are widespread disparities based on insurance status, income, race, and ethnicity.
The Commonwealth Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System seeks to move the U.S. toward a health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for those who are most vulnerable.
Research confirms what many observe firsthand: the system is fragmented and fraught with inefficiency.
While our pluralistic public-private "system" has many strengths, misaligned incentives among key stakeholders make reform a great challenge.
The United States spends well over twice the per-capita average of industrialized countries, but high spending on health care has not translated into better care or better outcomes.
Americans do not live as long as citizens of several other countries, and there are widespread disparities based on insurance status, income, race, and ethnicity.
Physicians for a National Health Program
Physicians for a National Health Program is a single issue organization advocating a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health program. PNHP has more than 15,000 members and chapters across the United States.
Since 1987, they have advocated for reform in the U.S. health care system. They educate physicians and other health professionals about the benefits of a single-payer system--including fewer administrative costs and affording health insurance for the 46 million Americans who have none.
Their members and physician activists work toward a single-payer national health program in their communities.
PNHP performs ground breaking research on the health crisis and the need for fundamental reform, coordinates speakers and forums, participates in town hall meetings and debates, contributes scholarly articles to peer-reviewed medical journals, and appears regularly on national television and news programs advocating for a single-payer system.
Since 1987, they have advocated for reform in the U.S. health care system. They educate physicians and other health professionals about the benefits of a single-payer system--including fewer administrative costs and affording health insurance for the 46 million Americans who have none.
Their members and physician activists work toward a single-payer national health program in their communities.
PNHP performs ground breaking research on the health crisis and the need for fundamental reform, coordinates speakers and forums, participates in town hall meetings and debates, contributes scholarly articles to peer-reviewed medical journals, and appears regularly on national television and news programs advocating for a single-payer system.
What is Syndrome-X ?
It's a resistance to insulin.........the hormone needed to burn food for energy......combined with high cholesterol or triglycerides, high blood pressure, or too much body fat.
Syndrome X ages you prematurely and significantly increases your risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, eye disease, nervous system disorders, diabetes, Alzheimers, cancer and other age related diseases.
Syndrome X is the first book to tell you how to fight the epidemic disorder that is derailing the health of nearly a third of North Americans.
It outlines a complete three step program......including easy to follow diets, light physical activity, and readily available vitamins and nutritional supplements......that will safeguard you against developing Syndrome-X or reverse it if you already have it.
link to book........http://www.syndrome-x.com for more info
Syndrome X ages you prematurely and significantly increases your risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, eye disease, nervous system disorders, diabetes, Alzheimers, cancer and other age related diseases.
Syndrome X is the first book to tell you how to fight the epidemic disorder that is derailing the health of nearly a third of North Americans.
It outlines a complete three step program......including easy to follow diets, light physical activity, and readily available vitamins and nutritional supplements......that will safeguard you against developing Syndrome-X or reverse it if you already have it.
link to book........http://www.syndrome-x.com for more info
Healthcare Meltdown
It is no secret that healthcare in the United States is managed to a confusing welter of institutions, regulations, corporations and government agencies.
Paperwork is rampant at every level and much time and money are wasted while millions of people go without needed medical attention.
For this"system" the U.S. spends about twice as much per capita as most developed countries.
Despite this levle of expense, over 45,000,000 people in our country have no health insurance.
Paperwork is rampant at every level and much time and money are wasted while millions of people go without needed medical attention.
For this"system" the U.S. spends about twice as much per capita as most developed countries.
Despite this levle of expense, over 45,000,000 people in our country have no health insurance.
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