Text 17380, 114 rader
Skriven 2014-09-26 01:02:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: health 1
================
 ML> Problem is that the doctor (I agree, it's his or her call,
 ML> with informed patient consent) has other concerns than
 ML> patient necessity. It may be appeasing the malpractice
 ML> lawyers or making numbers for a new piece of equipment.
 NB> So, you figure that the insurance companies are trying to rein in that
 NB> sort of thing...?

It's a tension thing, one part of the insurance industry
playing against another part. Probably the same companies,
too (see below for coincidental weirdness), selling health
insurance to the consumer even as they sell malpractice
insurance to the medical community.

    I think it sad that malpractice (prevention) ends
 NB> up being a factor in deciding to do treatments or tests

Agreed.

 , rather than
 NB> simply the actual needs of the patient.... although I do understand to
 NB> some extent the concept behind it...

But with costs no object, test away is what I say. The
problem is that costs are an object, as is apportionment
of medical resources.

 so while there might
 NB> not be complete justification for 100 uses, there probably would at
 NB> least be that for maybe half of them.... once it's bought, besides, you
 NB> then have it for when you do need it... and don't have to ship a
 NB> critically ill patient to some farther place that does happen to have
 NB> the tool... 

By that reasoning, though, every place should have every
possible kind of equipment. There has to be a cutoff.

 ML> Not all that jaundiced. See the NYT article on the guy who
 ML> got billed something like 117K for the services of a doc
 ML> he didn't meet? To be fair, the doc may have performed a
 ML> useful function at some point, but over 100K, doubtful.
 NB> Didn't see the article... that does have a bogus/fraud feel about
 NB> it... particularly the amount being billed...

It's been sitting on the front page of Google News for weeks
now.

 NB> I do understand your special-case dilemma... (Hmmm... how close IS
 NB> Wegmans to hitting the states/locations you might need them...?  Maybe
 NB> someday...)

Not in my lifetime. No Weggies in most of my places.

This year on prescription day, I've been in Montreal,
Washington, Washington, Williamsport, Boston, Washington,
Juneau, Newark, Washington, Boston, San Fran, Williamsport.
Exceptional the 4 Washingtons. Recently, though, the
insurance has agreed to let me get 3 months' worth at once,
which should ease my travails quite a bit.

 ML> I have a backup script for something that does all the
 ML> good things that my fancy stuff does, plus it causes
 ML> fainting and urological problems that made it worthwhile
 ML> for me to get something that up until recently cost almost
 ML> 50x as much at retail. Now that the good stuff has gone
 ML> generic, I figure the insurance and the pharmacy won't
 ML> conspire in their stupidity to make me use it, but it's
 ML> still there just in case.
 NB> As long as the generic works for you just like (or at least as well
 NB> as) the brand, that works...  and at least the insurance should be

I've always thought myself fairly hardy, and aside from the
problem of lactose as filler (commoner than it should be)
generics usually work okay for me. Diovan was a Novartis
product, but the new generic (new because only approved for
sale this year, even though the patent ran out in 2012) is
from Sandoz, also a reputable company. The new stuff is
in the same size/shape/color pill and comes in the same
size/shape/color bottle ... and I just got a bottle to do
a direct comparison, and the pill has the same markings -
o|o on one side and NVR on the other, h'm ...

Checking the fine print. The bottle says
  Product of Ireland and Switzerland and UK
  Manufactured by Novartis Pharmaceuticals
  Corp. for Sandoz Inc.

So the original manufacturing company, which held the patent,
is making the product for resale as a generic by a competitor
- in essence undercutting its own product. How weird is that?

LYCHEE-CRANBERRY SALSA
Categories: Asian fusion, celebrity, fruit, sauce, ingredient, dessert
Yield: 1 quart

2 cn lychees, strained
1 bag cranberries
1/2 c sugar
1 orange, zest of, finely chopped
1 orange, juice of
2 ts vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a food processor
and blend until medium-coarse in texture.

Tip: In addition to using this master in some
delicious desserts, the Lychee-Cranberry
Salsa is great as an accompaniment to pork
or poultry dishes.

source: Ming Tsai

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