California Healthcare Institute Launches Fourth Podcast Episode On Dangers of a Cost-based U.S. Healthcare System

Business Wire, Feb 21, 2007

Former FDA Associate Commissioner Examines Why One Size Healthcare Doesn't Fit All

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The California Healthcare Institute (CHI) today launched the fourth episode of the podcast series, Cost Over Care: The Dangers of Bureaucratic Medicine. As state and federal legislators begin to design their healthcare proposals, this podcast aims to educate policymakers about the dangers of cost-based healthcare initiatives. The five-part series can be found on the California Healthcare Institute Web site, www.chi.org, and is accessible on iTunes and other podcast directories.

In the fourth episode, Peter J. Pitts, co-founder and president of the Center for Medicines in the Public Interest and former FDA associate commissioner for external relations, discusses how evidence-based medicine has been distorted to institute cost-based healthcare policies. Pitts also explains how these policies can hurt patients' access to the best treatments for their condition.

"Why would we entrust the most important thing we have -- our health, our bodies -- to a one-size-fits-all mentality that evidence-based medicine has become in the 21st century?" said Pitts. "The triumph of modern medicine is that it really can be precisely targeted to a certain patient's precise needs."

The first episode of the podcast series featured Dr. David Gollaher, president and CEO of CHI. Additional episodes of the series feature Dr. Kwabena Adubofour, medical director, East Main Clinic and Stockton Diabetes Intervention Center; and Meryl Comer, Emmy-award winning journalist and caregiver.

For more information about evidence-based medicine and cost-effectiveness analysis or to download podcast episodes, please visit the CHI Web site at www.chi.org. This series has been made possible through a grant from Pfizer Inc.

California Healthcare Institute (CHI) represents more than 250 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI's mission is to advance responsible public policies that foster medical innovation and promote scientific discovery. CHI's web site is http://www.chi.org.