ObamaCare: The Government's Rational Toolbox Exposed

[teapartysamurai]

The issue at hand is whether or not the drug Avastin should be used to treat late stage terminal cancer patients. The FDA is seeking to de-label Avastin for breast cancer patients. Labeling is the FDA’s method of approval for using certain drugs for certain illnesses. Like Medicare, private insurance companies use these labels to determine whether or not they will cover the use of that drug to treat a certain illness.

Fair enough, right? But what’s particularly scurrilous about the FDA’s attempted actions with Avastin is not that they are attempting to de-label it for use with late stage breast cancer patients its how and why they are doing it.

Standard practice for evaluating drugs is to use data-driven objective endpoints to evaluate effectiveness and safety. In the case of Avastin, the FDA has arbitrarily and unilaterally stopped using this objective criterion and are applying a highly subjective criterion of “clinically meaningful”—to cut costs.

No one disputes that the drug helps extends life for terminal patients. The FDA is arguing that it just doesn’t do it for long enough to be worth the cost. So now the FDA is deciding how much life is “meaningful” and what it is worth? This should be a decision for patients, doctors and family members and the FDA should not be replacing their own value judgments about how much time is ‘meaningful’. While six months might not be significant to a statistician or a bureaucrat, for the families of a loved one or a dying patient, it’s a lifetime.


As tragic as it is for breast cancer patients today, this arbitrary shift is a preview of one of the tools in the government health care rationing toolbox. The government is not just saying outright that they won’t cover the cost of this, they are hiding their financial decisions behind language like “clinically meaningful” to lead people to believe the drug doesn’t work. The Avantis case is setting the precedent for the government to arbitrarily deny coverage to millions of American’s based on cost alone.

ObamaCare: The Government?s Rationing Toolbox Exposed - Big Government

Just give 'em a pain pill, like Obama said!

And then Obamabots say there won't be a death panel. They won't decide who lives and who dies based on the cost?

Looks like there is, and the government is already gearing up to do so.

 

[teapartysamurai]

Did I type rational in the title.

I mean to type rationing.

My bad. Oops!

 

[RDD_1210]

Jesus, thanks for posting this article. Is it too late to repeal this god awful healthcare bill that is obviously just Obamas way to legally kill americans?!! This Communist Nigerian must be stopped before he takes over healthcare, then the world.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I thought they said rationing would never happen.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Haven't we learned not to trust Andrew Breitbart by now?

Here's the same story, from a non-partisan source. Avastin vote has limited implications, specialist says - White Coat Notes - Boston.com

Notice how the decision is based on 2 additional studies beyond the first. The drug was approved on a temporary basis until further studies had been done - and the further studies have proven uneffective.

Second, the "rationing" argument doesn't work because..... drum roll..

THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE. The FDA is removing their approval because it doesn't do what they claim it does.

Private Insurance already won't pay for this drug, since it's one of the most expensive drugs on the market ($100,000 a year), and won't cure anything. Aren't they the ones "rationing" then?

 

[Modbert]

I love how partisan morons are acting as if the Public Option was passed when it didn't. Course, I guess the 90's Republicans are Socialists now.

 

[Greenbeard]

Obama created the FDA? I assume he came up with the concept of clinical drug trials, too. Active, that guy.