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--Quote to Note: "The one common characteristic of all national health-care systems is that they ration care." --Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute, in a New York Post op-ed.
--Reading the op-ed in today's New York Post by Michael Tanner surprised and confused ACSH staffers. Tanner argues that nationalized health care would cause more cancer deaths and that the American Cancer Society's advertising campaign for a government takeover of the U.S. healthcare system is "perverse."
ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan said she does believe an underlying theme of Tanner's piece is correct: if there is nationalized healthcare, people will take longer to get treated and certain medications will be unavailable (how this will affect death rates is not quite so cut-and-dry, though). However, Tanner's argument cites statistics that cannot be right, Dr. Whelan said. Example: the percentages of diagnosed women who die from breast cancer in the U.S. (Tanner says 25%) as compared to France (Tanner says 35%) and Britain (Tanner says 46%) are offered with no analysis of whether, for instance, the rate of initial diagnosis is higher in the U.S. The article, ACSH staffers agreed, is clearly not a scientific piece. He takes what could be a solid argument way too far. [Editor's note: The Cato Institute aren't the only libertarians commenting on healthcare and whether to socialize it this week: John Stossel is scheduled to have an ABC News 20/20 hour on the topic at 10pm Eastern time this Friday, Sept. 14.]
--The same New York Post had an editorial actually admiring a New York Times story of a few days ago, in which the Times reporters pointed out that the Mt. Sinai clinic caring for World Trade Center workers has a long history of labor advocacy. The Times article noted that those doctors caring for workers complaining of WTC-related ailments might have let their pro-worker leanings color their epidemiologic assessments of illnesses. It is unusual indeed, noted some ACSH staffers, for the Post to applaud the Times. As unusual, perhaps, is the Times "calling it as it is" when advocacy-colored science is being discussed.
--Today's front-page story in the New York Times profiled the painful plight of citizens in poor countries due to lack of painkilling drugs such as morphine, banned due to their addictive potential. ACSH's Todd Seavey commented that this shows, once again, how too much of the "war on drugs" is increasing suffering.
Corrie Driebusch is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
