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Health Law Surprise Is Page 1,617 Demanding Which Drugs Work
Bloomberg, March 25, 2010 By Alex Nussbaum, Meg Tirrell and Pat Wechsler
March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Page 1,617 of the 2,400-page law signed by President Barack Obama this week -- the most sweeping change to U.S. health-care in 45 years -- sparked little of the debate.
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Yet the 43-page measure tucked inside the bill may have a far greater effect on medical care.
The overhaul creates an institute, funded with $500 million or more annually, to spur studies of which drugs, devices and medical procedures work best. The boost for comparative- effectiveness research, as the field is known among health experts, will increase scrutiny on treatments used by millions of Americans, including cholesterol drugs led by Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor and heart stents from Medtronic Inc., said John Sullivan, an analyst at Leerink Swann & Co.
The findings may add scientific rigor to doctors' decisions sometimes influenced more by marketing, said Jeffrey Lerner of the ECRI Institute, a nonprofit that conducts such research. In a health overhaul attacked by critics as too pricey, it's one of the few measures with a chance to rein in U.S. medical spending that soared to $2.5 trillion last year, Sullivan said.
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Gregory PS: I don't see anything surprising in outcomes research being in new Health Care Law. Almost all health care analysts were in favor of such research for many years
From Pages 1617-1618 of Health Care legislation
SEC. 6301. PATIENT-CENTERED OUTCOMES RESEARCH.
(1) ESTABLISHMENT. - There is authorized to be established a nonprofit corporation, to be known as the 'Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute' (referred to in this section as the 'Institute')
PURPOSE.
The purpose of the Institute is to assist patients, clinicians, purchasers, and policy-makers in making informed health decisions by advancing the quality and relevance of evidence concerning the manner in which diseases, disorders, and other health conditions can effectively and appropriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, monitored, and managed through research and evidence synthesis that considers variations in patient subpopulations, and the dissemination of research findings with respect to the relative health outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness of the medical treatments, services, and items ...