The Black Ribbon Project

01/02/2013

The association reminded doctors this week that the patient’s welfare must always come first and must not be overridden by the economic interests of hospitals.

07/08/2012

The AMA's new medical ethics:
"Your doctor has been asked to look after the best interests of “society”, as well as you. The...politicians...decide...it is better to give government employees generous pension benefits than to fully fund the public health insurance program. Based upon the AMA guidelines, your physician tells you that there are two drugs that can be used to treat your condition that have comparable cure rates. One is more expensive, but it is associated with better compliance and fewer side effects. The cheaper one will address your problem, but you’ll probably feel sicker from the side effects and have a harder time taking it consistently. Your doctor tells you about both of them, including the fact that it’s more socially responsible to use the cheaper one. He explains that taking the cheaper one will allow more patients to be treated with the available insurance budget that the government insurer has decided upon. Having barely finished high school, the amount you know about medicines would fit into a thimble. You ask for his advice, and he recommends the cheaper one because it helps to promote equity and social justice.

How do you feel about your doctor now that he’s gone through this exercise? Do you still trust him? Is he looking out for what’s best for you, or what’s best for state employee pensions? How would you know?"

You have to hand it to the American Medical Association (AMA), it has a real talent for destroying the medical profession. Over time this aptitude has been turned to a variety of uses. In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was used to support the development and deployment of the RBRVS system of cod...

07/06/2012

"There are those who foolishly believe that this is all about "coverage." Everything will be the same, only more people will be "covered." This is like saying, "The government is going to take over the manufacture of cars. There will be no more competing automobile companies. Government will decide what kind of cars people will drive, how often they'll drive them, and everyone's car will be the same (except for the politicians or otherwise connected, of course.) The good news? Everyone will have a car."
Michael J Hurd, Phd , psychologist.

Your Doctor is Now a Government Employee...Happy?

07/06/2012

"Once the big insurers only have to curry favor with politicians and bureaucrats, the last incentive they would ever have to actually improve service and provide products people want and can afford disappears."
We are now to that point. Read more here:

06/29/2012

"The ObamaCare mandate forces individuals and businesses to act against their judgment. It forces individuals to buy expensive, government-controlled “insurance” that subsidizes the health expenses of others, and it forces insurers to offer only government-approved policies at government-approved rates. This is the first and most fundamental consequence of the ruling: It violates moral rights"

What does the Supreme Court’s decision upholding ObamaCare mean for you? What does it mean for the future of the nation? Although volumes can and will be written about the decision and the law it addresses, a number of consequences stand out.

06/28/2012

It's another black ribbon day.
If you don't have one of mine, make your own. Health care freedom has taken another blow. This time, from the Supreme Court. Make the doctor-patient relationship front and center to the dabate as we head to the election.
Our next move: Elect a repeal-capable Congress and President.

06/19/2012

Wealth inequality is not just a fact of life, it is the motor of prosperity for us all. Most of the problems we face in health care today are due to the intentional exclusion of health care from the market place.
From Ludwig von Mises:
"Inequality of wealth and incomes is an essential feature of the market economy. It is the implement that makes the consumers supreme in giving them the power to force all those engaged in production to comply with their orders. It forces all those engaged in production to the utmost exertion in the service of the consumers. It makes competition work. He who best serves the consumers profits most and accumulates riches."

06/02/2012

Conclusions: The vast majority of oncology CPGs fails to meet the IOM standards for trustworthy guidelines. Notably, most CPGs are not based on systematic reviews, lack full disclosure, and do not include all relevant stakeholders in the guideline process. This highlights the need for improved CPG development processes. (HT Paul Hsieh)

Search over 4,500 abstracts available for ASCO's 2012 Annual Meeting - June 1 - 5, 2012 | McCormick Place | Chicago, Illinois

06/02/2012

State-run insurance exchanges are still federally controlled. Exchanges are the vehicle for massive federal spending. Better idea: free individuals and businesses from burdonsome taxes and regulations so heallth insurance and medical care are affordable without coercive mandates and subsidies.

Tweet this: http://bit.ly/KuJ9i5 http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/no-obamacare-exchanges Here are just a few reasons why states should refuse to c...

06/02/2012

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06/02/2012

VoteFacts.org is a new website with the mission of educating American voters by giving them a place to silence the media noise, gather verifiable facts on the hottest issues facing the nation, and easily share those facts with friends. You may think you know everything there is to know about the hot national issues, but VoteFacts.org will challenge that notion. Focus on Facts, VoteFacts.org

05/21/2012

Watch closely, and you wil see the Black Ribbon Project brochure and ribbon going into the package.
Check out other Center for Objective Health Policy videos on ideas for activism at http://ohpcenter.org/videos.php?category=shorts.

http://ohpcenter.org/donate.php The Center for Objective Health Policy awards free books and materials to medical students and health policy graduate student...