‘Comparative effectiveness research’ tackles medicine’s unanswered questions - The Washington Post

‘Comparative effectiveness research’ tackles medicine’s unanswered questions - The Washington Post: "Nobody familiar with American medical care in the 21st century should be surprised that a 73-year-old woman can be minutes away from getting a painful collapsed vertebra filled with liquid plastic and it’s impossible to say whether the procedure works, or how."

Bloviation vs. Reality on Stimulus Health-Care Provision - washingtonpost.com

Bloviation vs. Reality on Stimulus Health-Care Provision - washingtonpost.com: "The report spelled out the committee's rationale for including $1.1 billion for something called 'comparative effectiveness research' in the massive economic stimulus bill. For those of not steeped in the argot of health policy, that's research done by doctors and statisticians who troll through large number of patient records to determine, for any particular disease, which treatments work best."

Counting SCHIP votes - The Hill.com

Counting SCHIP votes - The Hill.com: "The long-stalled State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill that was vetoed by President Bush is likely to be back on the House floor in the fall." Why should we care? Because this bill is a potential vehicle for physician gift transparency and comparative effectiveness measures.

Comparative-Effectiveness Bill to Hit Senate - FDA News

Comparative-Effectiveness Bill to Hit Senate - FDA News: "A bill establishing a comparative-effectiveness research institute is scheduled for introduction in the Senate this week, congressional staffers say."

ANALYSIS-US may compare medical products; companies wary - Forbes.com

ANALYSIS-US may compare medical products; companies wary - Forbes.com: "The idea of the federal government funding independent comparative effectiveness studies has drug and medical device makers jittery. They fear such information would influence insurance coverage and jeopardize billions of dollars worth of sales for their newest and most lucrative treatments."

COMMENTARY: Strange Bedfellows - The Journal of Life Sciences

COMMENTARY: Strange Bedfellows - The Journal of Life Sciences: "The battle over who decides whether a medicine is valuable will determine who controls health care in America over the next decade. Some proponents propose an independent entity should sponsor credible research on comparative effectiveness of health care services and disseminate this information to patients, providers and public and private payers."

U.S. House Bill Introduced to Fund Comparative Effectiveness Research

U.S. House Bill Introduced to Fund Comparative Effectiveness Research - UPI: "House lawmakers Tuesday unveiled a $3 billion bipartisan plan to fund medical comparative effectiveness research.
A bill co-sponsored by Reps. Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., would give the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality additional funding to compare the effectiveness and cost of the treatments available for a particular condition. "