MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'cer'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:31:43 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4780485&cid=t_165275_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FU_8pduWA8bk%2F How soon might comparative effectiveness offer significant change? And which entities will guide these changes when they begin? Inside the nation’s capitol, CER has become something of a mantra among those hoping to drive down health care costs. But beyond the Beltway, CER appears not to be nearly as potent a concept, for now anyway. To gauge the extent to which CER is perceived, the National Pharmaceutical Council, a policy and research organization supported by pharma, surveyed 111 people from federal agencies, consumer and trade groups, insurers and academics, among others. And NPC found nearly 60 percent are “very familiar” with CER, but only 30 percent believe CER will lead to moderate improvements in health care decision-making in the next year. One reason for the lack... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4780485 Tue, 03 May 2011 13:36:25 +0100 4780485 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4027161&cid=t_165275_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbias-in-clinical-research-is-inevitable%2F2010.10.03 DrRich has said many times that clinical science is among the least exact of the sciences, and therefore, the results of clinical research are particularly susceptible to “spinning” by various interested parties, in order to yield the kind of results they would prefer to see. Until recent times in American medicine, the parties who have been most interested in spinning clinical research have been the people who run drug companies and medical device companies (who need clinical research which supports the use of their products), and the medical specialists (who are more likely to be paid for performing medical procedures that are supported by clinical research). In writing about such data-spinning abuses, DrRich has particularly targeted his own Cardiology Guild, but only because he kno... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4027161 Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:00:16 +0100 4027161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3443860&cid=t_165275_129_f&fid=36038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Ftrevis-life-with-multiple-sclerosis-ms%2Fccsvi-ms-breaking-news%2F This just in from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and The National MS Society (NMSS) (I feel like such a reporter when things like this land in my in-box!) The AAN and NMSS will be co-sponsoring a live webcast on the topic of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) next week, and we’re all invited! A panel of experts will include Dr. Paolo Zamboni himself (the founder of the CCSI/MS theory) as well as two North American researchers studying Dr. Zamboni’s theory along with the Director of the MS Center at Mount Siani. The program is slated to be 90-minutes and begin at 12:00, Noon (EDT) on Wednesday, April 14th. I’ve just registered and encourage all of you to do the same! For those of you unfamiliar with CCSVI, we’ve posted we’ve posted several entries on the ... Life with MS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3443860 Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:30:03 +0100 3443860 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2898918&cid=t_165275_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_XBLnMj0XSc%2F Yesterday, another round of scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress – the so-called “Nation’s Report Card” — came out. They revealed flattened 4th-grade math achivement between 2007 and 2009, and a two point (out of 500) increase in 8th grade. So what do these bits of data portend? Ask the experts: “The trend is flat; it’s a plateau. Scores are not going anywhere, at least nowhere important,” said Chester Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, according to the New York Times. “That means that eight years after enactment of No Child Left Behind, the problems it set out to solve are not being solved, and now we’re five years from the deadline and we’re still far, far from the goal.” Next, former National Cent... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2898918 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:44:45 +0100 2898918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510203&cid=t_165275_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FjVUwvJSdZlU%2F “$2.5 Billion spent: no alternative medicine cures” screamed the headline two weeks ago. “You expect scientific thinking” one expert was quoted as saying, claiming that it’s become “politically correct to investigate nonsense.” So what’s the real issue here? Better yet, is there a way to bridge the gap between Western and Eastern philosophies so that the constituent that matters most in this paradigm — the patient — wins? I believe that when it comes to comparative effectiveness research (CER, i.e. the efficacy/superiority of one drug or modality compared to another), the heart of the West vs. East battle is two-fold and until we find ways to overcome philosophical barriers, never the twain shall meet. First, we must examine the funding factor. Notably, most Wes... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510203 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:59:19 +0100 2510203 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510204&cid=t_165275_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amplifypublicaffairs.net%2Fharkin-society-letter-on-ce.pdf With all the chatter and perhaps now “ twitter” about health care reform, one area has gotten a lot of attention and it is an issue that is near and dear to the Society for Women’s Health Research—that is comparative effectiveness research (CER). Since it is accepted knowledge that women and minorities were not, and are still not, to the degree they should be, included in clinical trials, there is much we are learning and still do not know about sex and ethnic differences in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. My concern with CER, therefore, is how differences in effectiveness and treatment will be determined. Several genetic, hormonal, environmental factors influence health and disease in particularly different ways in women and men. Because of that, CER must study both ... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510204 Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:52:48 +0100 2510204 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2305855&cid=t_165275_86_f&fid=38272&url=http%3A%2F%2Flaikaspoetnik.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F05%2Fhow-evidence-based-is-uptodate-really%2F KevinMD or Kevin Pho is one of the top physician bloggers. He writes many posts per day, often provocatively commenting on breaking medical news or other blogposts. A few weeks ago Kevin wrote a post on comparative effectiveness research [5] (tweet below), which is “(funded) research to evaluate and compare clinical outcomes, effectiveness, risk, and benefits [...] (Source: Laika's MedLibLog) Laika's MedLibLog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2305855 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:50:43 +0100 2305855 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2306719&cid=t_165275_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FagjKN5tr-So%2F My colleague, Michael Cannon, makes several good points about comparative effectiveness research (CER), both in his letter to USA Today and in his excellent paper on the subject. I strongly agree with him that we should not reflexively oppose CER—much of health care spending is wasteful or unnecessary, and it makes sense, therefore, to test and develop information on the effectiveness of various treatments and technology, giving consumers tools to evaluate the value of the care they receive. There is also a case for the use of CER in taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Taxpayers should not have to subsidize health care that has not proven effective, nor can Medicare and Medicaid pay for every possible treatment regardless of cost-effectiveness. However, I am more skeptic... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2306719 Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:38:23 +0100 2306719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2306722&cid=t_165275_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJSZCM-K0EfY%2F I’ve got a letter to the editor in today’s The USA Today on comparative-effectiveness research: Commentary writer Kevin Pho misrepresented my views on comparative-effectiveness research (CER), which is the analysis of which medical treatments work best (”Unbiased research for doctors is good medicine,” The Forum, March 26). Pho wrote that “drug companies, medical device makers and think tanks such as the libertarian Cato Institute have expressed concerns that health care rationing and denial of certain treatments or drugs would follow” taxpayer-funded CER. In the Cato Institute study linked to in the piece, I write that rationing is the intent behind such research, but I do not express concern that it will lead to rationing. Indeed, I express the opposit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2306722 Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:38:21 +0100 2306722