The "Doh' Factor

I read a blog post this morning on the National Pain Report that came from another blogger. She wrote about wondering why researchers waste their time on the obvious? A research report that says 'fibromyalgia causes pain' or 'breast cancer can be found in men as well as women' or some other stupid blatantly obvious answer is a complete waste of time and money. When the answer is basically 'doh'. It was a waste.

Donna sums up her post by stating that research should focus on two questions, and two questions only:

• What causes fibromyalgia?
• And more importantly, how do I get rid of it?

And just switch that word 'fibromyalgia' with the word of your choice - breast cancer, thyroid cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerating disks are my choices. But you get the point.

My inbox is filled with the latest in medical research. And so often, I just wonder why they even bothered with the study. The results don't seem to tell me much and often only confirm what is previously known. I know if research discovers something they need to confirm it with multiple tests. But they don't need to announce it every time. 

Seriously, just give me the cause of my ailments and tell me how to make them go away. Thats enough for today. I am awfully cynical this morning. Maybe its because I have been up since 2:00 am (thank you fibromyalgia for giving me insomnia too).

Color Me Appalled

I think of the state of California has some of the most progressive (and craziest) laws and regulations. I also think of California as a state full of all types of people and as being inclusive and recognizing so many of its diverse constituents. I also realize that the state has had some huge health insurance gaps in the past and the majority were resolved with the Affordable Care Act.

But I am absolutely appalled by what I recently learned about state funded breast and cervical cancer treatment program. Currently the program has these limits:

• Women under 40 are not eligible for free mammograms in the program. So if a woman with no history of cancer in her 20's or 30's found a lump, she would have to pay for her mammogram out of pocket. 
• Breast cancer treatment is limited to 18 months for young women. So if you haven't finished treatment in that period of time you are out of luck.
• Does not offer treatment if a young woman has a recurrence in the same area. 

I have to figure out why this program actually exists for young women. These limitations are insane. It provides no coverage.

So the Komen foundation (doing good for once) actually introduced a bill last year to get rid of these limitations. Actually I should not be sarcastic about the Komen Foundation (for the cure) here as this is a good example of the other types of work they do - besides sticking a pink ribbon on everything. 

The bill is making its way through the government and should eventually become law. I am just stunned that it is needed in this day and age.

Once again, I am an idiot

I spent a long time working on my SSID application. I made notes, talked and talked about it to figure it out. I talked to my doctors. I met with Social Security to make sure my application was complete. I was rejected.

Then I was talking to the lawyer yesterday and realized I forgot to mention my knee with the torn ACL which cannot be repaired due to my rheumatoid. I am an idiot. It like to swell up and cause pain. It does not have side to side stability. My 'good' knee has a partially torn ACL which I am not even bringing into the equation.

The lawyer agreed that it would be a good item to add to my medical record with SSA. Now I have to add it to my documentation for my appeal.

You may call me a moron if you wish.

You can't put a dollar value on life

The latest news out of the pharma industry is that they want to put a dollar value on a month of life. I do not think this is possible. But they want to so they can continue to justify their high priced medications.

I think many people when faced with the knowledge their life is about to be cut short would do anything or pay any price to be able to stick around longer. I am sure I would, unless I was in horrible pain or had no quality of life.

To start with how would you figure out the monetary value of life, or a month of life even? You can look at the basic necessities - food and shelter - or lost salary, or medical costs to keep someone alive. But what would that mean? I just don't understand this concept.

And to try to pull a number out of thin air to justify the cost of a medication is nonsensical.

Logical pricing comes from cost to design and create and throw in some supply and demand. And the pharma industry's way of a putting development costs from multiple drugs that didn't work out in to the development costs from a new drug and pulling a number out of a hat for perceived value for the basis of pricing, doesn't really work. And always end up in their favor.

I could never put a value on my life. Its not something that came with a number on it. So let's not try to create something that doesn't exist.

Oh, the poor man!

As I have said before, this is not a political blog. But I do occasionally blog about political issues. Martin Shkreli, the idiot man who raised the price of a medication 4000%, is upset with Bernie Sanders. He donated $2700 to Bernie's campaign and hoped to get a meeting with Bernie to explain why drug manufacturers set their prices.

"Shkreli made the contribution, he said, partly because he supports some of Sanders’ proposals — just not the ones about drug prices. But mainly, he said, he donated to get the senator’s attention in the hopes that he could get a private meeting to explain why drug companies set prices the way they do."

Bernie gave away his money and won't meet with him. Martin isn't happy.

"Shkreli is “furious” that Sanders is using him as a punching bag without giving him a chance to give his side. “I think it’s cheap to use one person’s action as a platform without kind of talking to that person,” Shkreli said in the interview. “He’ll take my money, but he won’t engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better.”"

Personally, I think I catch a hint of whininess here.... I'm with Bernie on this. I don't think I would take a donation from Martin either. I think Martin should start trying to explain to the rest of us about his pricing justification instead of just waiting for a call from Bernie.

Price gouging

That's the only term for when drug companies hike prices 5000 percent. One drug went from $13.50 to $750 (no I am not missing a decinal point). Thats a big price increase. I could not believe it when I read the article.

"Although some price increases have been caused by shortages, others have resulted from a business strategy of buying old neglected drugs and turning them into high-priced “specialty drugs.”"

And its not just one drug, its several. So what happened to the old justification of the research and development costs are so high? There were no new development costs. Probably just marketing crap, once again.