Cosmic Irony

President Bush, nominated for Worst President Ever (in my book), has decided that he knows what’s best for everyone. You see, with a wilting approval rating and strong opposition against the war in Iraq, he has decided that he will do just about whatever he wants.

Although the two political parties in America (dumb and dumber as I have recently began to call them) cannot agree on how or when we should be out of Iraq, they have decided it needs to happen. Congress is telling the president to listen to the American people. We no longer want to spend money on an endless war, we don’t want to see any more of our sons dying, but Jr. is telling Congress and the American people to mind their own business. Jr. Knows Best, right? The New York Times writes:

The president acknowledged that public opinion might be against him — he said that “sometimes the decisions you make and the consequences don’t enable you to be loved” — but suggested that Congress was overstepping its constitutional role by trying to force a change of policy on him.

So, basically he’s going to do whatever he wants because it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. What a selfish little man. He also said:

“I don’t think Congress ought to be running the war. I think they ought to be funding the troops.”

(I don’t think Congriss oughtn’a be runnin this ‘ere fight righ’ ‘ere. Ayup, ayup, ayup)

So let’s all just shut up and let Bushy have his way.

In other news, patients of the fifth most common cancer in the US, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, are not getting the effective treatment that they deserve. In the New York Times today, the statistics regarding two drugs Zevalin and Bexxa show that only 10 percent of people that would benefit from these treatments actually receive them. “Why”? you ask.

Reason number one:

The reasons that more patients don’t get these drugs reflect the market-driven forces that can distort medical decisions, Dr. Press and other experts on lymphoma treatment say. A result can be high costs but not necessarily the best care.

Reason number two:

One reason is that cancer doctors, or oncologists, have financial incentives to use drugs other than Bexxar and Zevalin, which they are not paid to administer. In addition, using either drug usually requires oncologists to coordinate treatment with academic hospitals, whom the doctors may view as competitors.

Reason number three:

But the drugs have run into an obstacle that so far has been impassable. Because they are radioactive, they are almost always administered in hospitals, not doctors’ offices. As a result, doctors are not paid by Medicare and private insurers for prescribing them, as they are when they give patients a more common treatment, chemotherapy.

The article says that although these drugs do not prolong survival, a patient is more likely to respond to this drug than others that are used as first-line treatment. But, instead of being available to the 60,000 new cases each year (20,000 being fatal), doctors are holding back because of the almighty dollar. It’s not cost-effective to drive a Mercedes and administer a more effective treatment for cancer. That’s capitalism for you. It leaves no apology to the families of the people that will die this year because they don’t have the right insurance or the right doctor. America, thanks for nothing.

Sources:

The New York Times:

“A Firm Bush Tells Congress Not to Dictate War Policy”
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and JEFF ZELENY
Published: July 13, 2007

“Market Forces Cited in Lymphoma Drugs’ Disuse”
By ALEX BERENSON
Published: July 14, 2007