The Urban Grind

Obama’s media sycophants are hard at work promoting Obamacare.  So while they won’t necessarily be that blunt, these DNC organ publications like The New York Times, among others, will publish pieces on why certain so-called oncology associations believe that palliative care is the way to go in treating patients with aggessive cancer. They’ll also publish news of certain medical boards urging fewer diagnostic tests for patients. Furthermore, certain organizations like the United States Preventive Services Task Force will conveniently come out with news that all of the sudden, mammograms are unnecessary for women under 50.

Most recently, the Obama worshiping New York Times is now saying that annual physicals are not necessary, and even harmful! Now in case you’re wondering who’s behind all this, let’s just say the United States Preventive Services Task Force is at it again. Here’s some background on this quasi-governmental group.

Created in 1984, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF or Task Force) is an independent group of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, or preventive medications. The USPSTF is made up of 16 volunteer members who come from the fields of preventive medicine and primary care, including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing. All members volunteer their time to serve on the USPSTF, and most are practicing clinicians.

When Congress authorized the USPSTF, it required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the Task Force’s work. The 1998 Public Health Service Act and the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act instruct AHRQ to provide administrative, research, technical, and communication support to the Task Force. As part of this support, AHRQ helps with day-to-day operations, coordinates the production of evidence reports, ensures consistent use of Task Force methods, and helps disseminate Task Force materials and recommendations. The Director of AHRQ also appoints new USPSTF members, with guidance from the Chair of the Task Force. While AHRQ staff supports the Task Force, it is important to note that the Task Force is an independent body, and its work does not require AHRQ or HHS approval.

You can read more about them here and here.

Anyway, getting to the New York Times article, here’s what Elizabeth Rosenthal has to say:

FOR decades, scientific research has shown that annual physical exams – and many of the screening tests that routinely accompany them – are in many ways pointless or (worse) dangerous, because they can lead to unneeded procedures. The last few years have produced a steady stream of new evidence against the utility of popular tests:

Prostate specific antigen blood tests to detect prostate cancer? No longer recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force.

Routine EKGs? No use.

Yearly Pap smears? Nope. (Every three years.)

So why do Americans, nearly alone on the planet, remain so devoted to the ritual physical exam and to all of these tests, and why do so many doctors continue to provide them? Indeed, the last decade has seen a boom in what hospitals and health care companies call “executive physicals” – batteries of screening exams for apparently healthy people, purporting to ferret out hidden disease with the zeal of Homeland Security officers searching for terrorists.

{snip}

The United States spends about twice as much per person as other developed countries on health care, generally without better results. A 2009 study of waste in the United States health care system pointed to “unwarranted use of medical care” – unneeded, unproven or redundant diagnosis or treatment – as the biggest single component, accounting for $250 billion to $325 billion a year.

In other words, us greedy Americans are consuming way too many limited resources, and we need to sacrifice so that everyone (except the elites) will have the same low standard of care. Remember it’s all about equality of outcome. So what’s the solution proposed by the beloved United States Preventive Services Task Force?

As of today, only a few screening tests are recommended as useful for healthy, asymptomatic people by the Preventive Services Task Force and some of those – like blood pressure checks – don’t require a doctor visit and could be performed in a pharmacy. “If you follow their recommendations you hardly do anything to patients,” said Dr. Brett, adding that the most important intervention doctors perform on healthy patients may be counseling about habits. For new patients, he still does the full head-to-toe medical exam – though he does not routinely order blood work – and regards some parts as more or less playacting.

In other words, ditch doctors, and just see a pharmacist to get your blood pressure checked. That way, we’ll all be “equal.”

Now let me add one more thing here.

Liberals love to go on and on about how health care is a basic right. But they’re lying. What they clearly want is rationing.

Posted June 5th, 2012 under Health, Health Care. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.