Changing seasons...
Living in Mid America make you become more aware of the seasonal changes. Suddenly, autumn sneaks up on you. There is a sharp bite to the morning air that welcomes you. You didn't realize until now, but the trees along the road have been blushing at you for some days now. That toasty latte started to look more sexy to you than the frozen ICEE at the local gas station. Yet, this week or two of changing foliage and breaking out your favorite sweaters seem such a high price to pay to endure the six months of snow while living in a Midwest town of 100 thousand but calls itself the culture mecca of the Midwest.Fall's here, so winter is not too far behind. So is the Flu Season. And of course, the flu vaccine and its problems have plagued this country the last two years. I think the question of why we couldn't better ensure the supply of flu vaccine should be asked. I heard a pharmaceutical industry speakperson talk about the problem of litigation as the main cause of lack of companies that are willing to produce the vaccine, gee, did he get a memo from the white house, or vice versa?
As recent as two weeks ago, I believed in the power of a free market to drive innovation in health care, but I no longer believe that anymore. There are some fundamental issues in the nature of health care that are incompatible with a simple capitalistic economy. I believe, right or wrong, the goal of health care is to minimize cost of care, and at the same time improve the well-being of people. Better preventive, and relatively cheap, care would in turn further minimize the need for expensive procedures and medications to treat. If some many players in health care, hospitals, insurance companies and drug makers are for-profit, it would seem to be a case of conflict of interest, no? The problem of no one wanting to make the flu vaccine seems to be more about the lack of profitability than the risk of litigation. So why don't the government guarantee the purchase of vaccine supplies every year? They already do with the small pox vaccine. So yes, perhaps the health care system in this country needs an overhaul, and I don't mean tort-reform:)
Lastly, I am becoming pretty anti-pharmaceutical companies lately. I just hope I will remember my promise of integrity when those sharply dressed drug reps show up with the free meals and free coffee mugs.
posted by hedgehog @ 12:32 AM
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