Category Archives: Cancer

Comment on Class and Health

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(To see the original post on Class and health, click here.  To add your comment, scroll down and click on “Contact” on the left-hand side of the page.)

From Alan Abrams (a.k.a. Alan_A
at the hpscleansing.com/group
community forums)

I just read Maggie
Mahar’s health blog after linking to it from an agonist.org blog on universal health care.
I then read Maggie Mahar’s blog [post] on
"Class and Health."  thus this quote:

"And yet, and yet . . . Schroeder sees reason for "cautious
optimism." Although we trail behind other countries, we are healthier than
we once were. We have reduced smoking ratse, homicide rates and motor-vehicle
accidents. Vaccines and cardiovascular drugs have improved medical care. But
progress in other areas will require "political action,"
Schroeder declares, "starting with relentless measurement of and focus on actual
health status and the actions that could improve it. Inaction
means acceptance of America’s poor
health status."

Healthier than we once were? Really?  Are…smoking, homicide rates, and
motor-vehicle accidents adequate measures of the overall improving general
health of Americans?

What about these:

  • 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
  • Eight out of 10 over 25’s Overweight
  • 78% of American’s not meeting basic activity level recommendations
  • 25% completely Sedentary
  • 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

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If We Mandate Insurance, Should 20-Somethings Pay Less?

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Should insurers be able to offer less expensive policies to the young and healthy? Or should they be required to offer the same benefits to everyone at the same price?

In states where insurance is mandated, should twenty-somethings get a break? In a post on Health Care Policy and Marketplace Blog Robert Laszewski addresses these questions. He begins by focusing on a report  just released by the health insurance trade association (AHIP). The study looks at state health insurance reforms of the 1990s that tried to eliminate discrimination by insisting that insurers must sell “individual” policies to people who are not covered by an employer or another group without discriminating on the basis of health, age or gender. According to the AHIP, these reforms have had some “unintended consequences.”

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Commenting on “The FDA Betrays its Mandate”

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Commenting on "The FDA Betrays its Mandate,"  Gregory D. Pawelski  responded:
Take Physicians Out of the Retail Pharmacy Business
Lee Newcomer, with United Health Group, had stated at the 12th annual conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 44% of patients having blood work-ups indicated they were not anemic. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, reiterated that Newcomer was right on the spot on this. Few drugs work the way we think and few physicians/scientists take the time to think through what it is they are using them for.

A New York Times article stated that anemia drugs, given by injection, have been heavily advertised, and there is evidence that they have been overused, in part because oncologists can make money by using more of the drug. Lichtenfeld told United Press International, "Probably more than a billion dollars is spent on erythropoietin each year, which makes it one of the most expensive cancer drugs."

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Update–Gardasil for Boys?

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A study published today in the journal Cancer suggests that cancers of the tongue and tonsils may be associated with the HPV virus that is linked to  cervical cancer. The theory is that  boys may contract the cancer through oral sex.  No surprise, the media is now asking: "Should boys be vaccinated with Garadasil too? (See my post below on Direct-to-Consumer advertising recommending Gardasil, a vaccine the against some cases of cervical cancer, for girls.)

The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog takes a cautious approach pointing out, first, that "HPV’s connection to  to oral cancer isn’t as clear-cut as its role in cervical cancer," though  a New England Journal of Medicine article published earlier this year suggested a strong association. Moreover, while Merck and its rival GlaxoSmithKline (which is also developing a vaccine for cervical cancer) have done some  research on using their HPV vaccines in boys, they have even less data for boys than they have girls.  Finally,  "this form of cancer is rare.  . . .So for the time being, the vaccine, which costs $360 for a three-dose regimen, seems unlikely to be given to boys."

The Journal’s healthblog also notes that one of the study’s two authors "has worked as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline."

Drug-Maker’s Direct-to-Consumer Advertising—“Half-True”?

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Earlier this month the FDA announced that the direct-to-consumer ads Merck has been using peddle its new cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, are “half-true . . .  information currently being advertised could mislead the public.”

But “don’t get too excited that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has regained its sanity,” says blogger Bill Sardi.

“This is the FDA in Thailand,” he explained. (Sardi picked up the news in the Bangkok Post)

Before taking a closer look at precisely why Thailand’s health officials  are concerned about Merck’s ads—and why our own FDA isn’t raising a red flag– let’s step back and review our own government’s policy on drug ads that are beamed directly to you and me.

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Screening for Prostate Cancer: Before Medicare Pays, Patients Need to Know More About Risks

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Roughly two-thirds of all men on Medicare are screened for prostate cancer. Most feel they have no choice. After all, this year more than 27,000 American men are likely to die of the disease. When men are asked about their fear of cancer, a survey from the Harvard Risk Management Foundation reveals that prostate ranks at the top of the list. Colon cancer, which kills roughly as many men in the U.S. each year, ranks number seven. There is something about prostate cancer that pushes buttons. No wonder so many men sign up for the “PSA” test which measures levels of prostate-specific antigen in the blood.
But the truth is that current research offers no proof that widespread screening and early diagnosis saves lives. What we do know is that patients who are tested and treated may suffer life-changing side effects that outweigh the uncertain benefits of early detection.

In June the National Cancer Institute made its position clear: “Screening tests are able to detect prostate cancer at an early stage, but it is not clear whether this earlier detection and consequent earlier treatment leads to any change in the natural history and outcome of the disease.” The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force agrees.

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Wall Street, Cancer and the FDA: A Cautionary Tale

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Only in America do physicians who evaluate new drugs need bodyguards. You may have read about the brouhaha surrounding Provenge, a vaccine designed to extend the lives of men suffering from late-stage prostate cancer. In March, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel voted 13 to 4 to recommend approval. The next day, shares of Dendreon, the drug’s sponsor, doubled. But shareholders did not celebrate for long. Two of the dissenting votes were cast by the panel’s two prostate cancer specialists: Sloan-Kettering’s Howard Scher and the University of Michigan’s Maha Hussain. And they did not just vote “no”—following the hearing, both wrote to the FDA arguing that Dendreon offered no solid evidence that Provenge works.
   
The FDA listened. And in May it told the company it wouldn’t approve the drug until it had more data. That is when the two oncologists began receiving threatening e-mails, phone calls, and letters. Many were anonymous

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