The Hollywood Liberal

Hope you all had a good week. I returned from my vacation in Palm Desert yesterday, and as usual there is a lot to talk about. It was nice to get out of town for a few days on my first real vacation since 1999. Funny how nowadays people have to work harder to make ends meet and pay those huge healthcare premiums. It makes it harder then ever to get away for a few days and recharge those batteries. Back in the day I used to take 2-3 trips a year. It really helps alleviate the stress of everyday life. Not taking some time off for 8 years can make you crazy. If, like me, you haven’t gotten away in a while, make plans to do so if even for a few days. You’ll feel much better.
I have a few items posted here, for today, but still have lots of stuff to take care of. Be back tomorrow with more. See you then. HL

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Market Forces Cited in Lymphoma Drugs’ Disuse

NY Times
Excerpt
After an hourlong infusion, Linda Stephens, 58, has been cancer-free for seven years. Dan Wheeler, three years. Betsy de Parry, five years. Before treatment, all three had late-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, and a grim prognosis.

All three recovered after a single dose of Bexxar or Zevalin, both federally approved drugs for lymphoma. And all three can count themselves as lucky….

“Both Zevalin and Bexxar are very good products,” said Dr. Oliver W. Press, a professor at the University of Washington and chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. “It is astounding and disappointing” that they are used so little. The reasons that more patients don’t get these drugs reflect the market-driven forces that can distort medical decisions, Dr. Press and other experts on lymphoma treatment say. A result can be high costs but not necessarily the best care….

One reason is that cancer doctors, or oncologists, have financial incentives to use drugs other than Bexxar and Zevalin, which they are not paid to administer. In addition, using either drug usually requires oncologists to coordinate treatment with academic hospitals, whom the doctors may view as competitors.

As a result, many doctors prescribe Bexxar and Zevalin only as a last resort, when they are unlikely to succeed because the cancer has advanced

Not just because their cancers responded so well. But because they got the treatment at all

White House threatens to veto children’s health insurance legislation

Herald Tribune
Excerpt
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said that senior advisers would recommend the president veto Senate legislation that would substantially increase funds for children’s health insurance.

The legislation calls for a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The revenue would be used to subsidize health insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid — the government health insurance program for the poor — but not enough to afford insurance on their own.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee brokered a bipartisan agreement Friday that would add $35 billion (€25.4 billion) to the program over the next five years. The Bush administration had instead recommend $5 billion (€3.63 billion

Ship of fools: Johann Hari sets sail with America’s swashbuckling neocons

Independent UK
Excerpt
The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth – and as for Guantanamo Bay, it’s practically a holiday camp… The annual cruise organised by the ‘National Review’, mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans.

I am standing waist-deep in the Pacific Ocean, both chilling and burning, indulging in the polite chit-chat beloved by vacationing Americans. A sweet elderly lady from Los Angeles is sitting on the rocks nearby, telling me dreamily about her son. “Is he your only child?” I ask. “Yes,” she says. “Do you have a child back in England?” she asks. No, I say. Her face darkens. “You’d better start,” she says. “The Muslims are breeding. Soon, they’ll have the whole of Europe.”