Comments for Medicynic

Comment on Defying Gravity: Cancer Care Costs, Hepatoma, sorafenib by medicynic

medicynic — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:09:52 +0000

Thanks for your comment. I’m sorry to hear of your AML and hope you attain the remission.

Regarding drugs, I certainly don’t oppose new drugs and their wide use. My concern is the overpricing of these agents by drug companies. In the 70′s and 80′s and early 90′s no single drug. not one, cost more than a fraction of a person’s yearly income (median income). Now, drug companies regularly market and push drugs costing one and half to two times the median income, and more, in the U.S. They take advantage of the illness, our dysfunctional health insurance system and charge usurious prices for drugs often with limited efficacy, particularly in life threatening situations. That doesn’t seem right.

Comment on Defying Gravity: Cancer Care Costs, Hepatoma, sorafenib by Robert Fulkerson

Robert Fulkerson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:29:07 +0000

Sorafenib has shown promising results in treating acute myeloid leukemia when there is an FLT3 gene mutation, per studies at the MD Anderson cancer center. The only hope for complete remission for AML with FLT3 is a bone marrow transplant.

I have had AML with FLT3 since Nov 2011. On diagnosis my blast count was 43%. The first 3 attempts at induction reduced the blasts to 8%, 13% and 9%. A fourth attempt, using sorafenib in conjunction with the chemo drugs, reduced the blasts to 2%. I am now on an outpatient regimen of sorafenib, and will return to hospital for one more chemo session to hopefully reduce the blasts to zero. Once that is done, I will qualify for transplant.

Were it not for sorafenib, there would be little hope at all. We’re not talking just a 2-month extension of life here, but possibly a complete remission. I’m fighting this AML like a badger, and I’ll use every advantage I can get.

Let me also add that the sorafenib usage has been approved by my Blue Cross health insurance.

Comment on Health Care Expectations, Cost and the R word by Health Care Doomed by Expectations | Medicynic

Health Care Doomed by Expectations | Medicynic — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:55:52 +0000

[...] As noted previously, the health industry is driven by expectations. Patients expect everything to be done no matter the cost, the limited benefit of the intervention, whether they can pay or not or for that matter whether or not they have insurance. It’s the American way. They also largely expect that no matter the severity of the illness and difficulty of treatment that they will be the ones cured–that’s what it said on TV or the Internet. [...]

Comment on Medical Bribery: Boston Scientific and Payments to Cardiologists by Linking Media Logic to Defense Health Programs – Keeping Sweet in Seattle

Linking Media Logic to Defense Health Programs – Keeping Sweet in Seattle — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:58:46 +0000

[...] The problem was deeply rooted at Madigan, and according to Eisenhauer 1.2 million dollars in sole-source acquisitions, presumably in cardiology alone, were pushed through. Imagine the cost if similar practices are extant at other military facilities–as they undoubtedly are. By Paul Goff. See http://medicynic.com/2011/08/14/medical-bribery-boston-scientific-and-payments-to-cardiologists/ [...]

Comment on Trovan, Nigerian Children and Pfizer’s Inappropriate Drug Trial by Miško Veseli

Miško Veseli — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:59:04 +0000

This was awful thing to do. I’m glad that poor people won this fight, and that they got at least some satisfaction out of it. It was really so unethical that it hurts.

Comment on Conflicts of Interest: Drug Company Payments to Doctors: Tysabri by alterhatfie10

alterhatfie10 — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:15:36 +0000

Thanks for the great information! I really loved the way you have put this in a chat type of environment. Your article was really easy to understand! Thanks again! Ross Finesmith

Comment on Electronic Medical Records: Increases Utilization and Costs? by Dr.T

Dr.T — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:18:21 +0000

Given that EMR systems disconnect practitioners from their patients and given that EMRs make test ordering easier and given that EMRs are really just bigger and smaller disconnected silos of disparate data, it is reasonable to conclude that an abundance of unneeded tests will be ordered.
Right now, with EMRs, even after Meaningful Use tax dollars have been poured out, doctors caring for the same patient are separated by complex systems that don’t talk to each other. Whether they are down the hall from one another or hundreds of miles apart, these doctors are really on different planets.
What we need is a global connectivity solution that doesn’t force practitioners to become clerks. If you are thinking about buying an EMR – DON’T. Search YouTube for the word SharEHR to find the highly profitable solution that solves all of the above and more.

Comment on Medicaid: An Ongoing Public Health Disaster by Estella West

Estella West — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:58:41 +0000

First of all Medicaid is not free to Disabled Adults. In most States Disabled Adults have to pay Co-payments to Doctors and Pharmacies these payments can range from a dollar or thousands of dollars. You see in most States Medicaid Program offers their Disabled Adults what is called Slots. At the beginning of each Month the Adult Medicaid Patient has three Slots for medications. If the adult patient exceed these Three Slots they pay full price for any additional medications,unless someone informs the patient they can get up to six Slots on their prescriptions if their Doctor will put in a request for the maxium of six Slots along with a co-payment ranging from a dollar or up to six dollars or more per prescription depending on the cost of their medication. Medicaid only allows five-hundred dollars a year for Doctor’s Visits,Lab Test,and Radioloy Test or life saving Scans and EKG’s. When these Tests exceeds five-hundred dollars,the Adult Medicaid Patients are billed for these additional cost. We all know the Uninsured is billed at a higher rate than their insured counterparts, well guest what Adult Medicaid Patients are billed the same as the Uninsured when their medical cost have exceeded the annual five-hundred dollars which can add up into thousands of dollars.Most Adult Medicaid Patients are very sick SSI recipients they receive less than nine thousand dollars a year and are not eligible for Medicare or any other form of Health Insurence. Adult Medicaid Patients can have medical bills that exceed hundreds and even thousand of dollars as well as anyone else but they cannot afford the cost of Filing for Bankruptsy so they are being denied access to Housing and many other things most Americans take for granted because of bad credit due to unpaid MEDICAL BILLS. So if you think Medicaid is stil a free ride for the poor, then you need to think again. Not meaning any disrespect to anyone but I hope you could just sit down and think about the poor and how they have to struggle to survive even when they are sick and Disabled.

Comment on More Technology, Higher Costs by Electronic Medical Records: Increases Utilization and Costs? | Medicynic

Electronic Medical Records: Increases Utilization and Costs? | Medicynic — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:06:22 +0000

[...] new with this revelation. It has been previously postulated. Computerized patient records are unlikely to cut health care costs and may actually [...]

Comment on Alzheimers: Bexarotene 1200/day (Please note retraction) by dicky_dooo

dicky_dooo — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:13:49 +0000

i don’t know where you’re coming up with $1,200/day. If you you google
“purchase Targretin” (the brand name for Bexarotene), one 75 mg pill costs $19.49 from Canadian Pharmacy. You must be talking about $1,200/month. You can purchase 61.57 pills or 2 pills per day for the month for $1,200.