A new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development, contrary to the industry’s claim.

The researchers’ estimate is based on the systematic collection of data directly from the industry and doctors during 2004, which shows the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spent 24.4% of the sales dollar on promotion, versus 13.4% for research and development, as a percentage of US domestic sales of US$235.4 billion.

via Big Pharma Spends More On Advertising Than Research And Development, Study Finds.

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Shares of health insurers, which have been climbing for days as the public option looked less likely, rose again today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Managed Health Care Index gained as much as 1.8 percent, led by Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna Inc., which rose as much as 3.1 percent.

via Obama Says Senate on ‘Precipice’ of Health-Care Bill Update1 – Bloomberg.com.

The vaunted Healthcare Reform Bill is really nothing more than a Health Insurance Reform Bill, and the one thing it really does make sure of is that health insurance companies will get more customers, and most of them will be healthy ones, and thereby highly profitable one to boot.

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Bet you never heard of CareCore National. You will one day soon, when your doctor sends you for an MRI or recommends a course of radiation or chemotherapy for a cancer, and CareCore sends you a letter (on behalf of your friendly health  insurance company) refusing to allow you the health care service your doctor recommends.

Their slogan? Evidence Based Specialty Benefit Management.

In other words, Care Core National is in the business of denying coverage. Just read carefully the company’s own description of itself:

CareCore National, a specialty benefit management company, manages quality and utilization of outpatient diagnostic and cardiac imaging, cardiac implantable devices, oncology drugs and therapeutic agents, radiation therapy, sleep, pain and lab services. With a comprehensive and diverse portfolio of offerings, we provide seamless solutions to health plans that seek to manage these specialty health care segments more effectively. – from their company history webpage

And why do we know you’ll be hearing about them soon enough if you haven’t run up against them already? Because, to quote their own propaganda, they “currently manage more than 30 million lives. [Their] clients include some of America’s most well-known, trusted health plans.”

Soon, if they don’t already, they will “manage” your life too.

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