Comments on: Something you can do – right now – about health care

By: “Patients Are Always Left Out” « The Bag of Health and Politics

“Patients Are Always Left Out” « The Bag of Health and Politics — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:01:51 +0000

[...] was called “Putting Patients First.” As pointed out on the blog Duncan Cross, there was not a single patient who was allowed to speak at this event. The organizers of this conference, which featured Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan (R), “put [...]

By: Questions for the specialists panel « DUNCAN CROSS

Questions for the specialists panel « DUNCAN CROSS — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:43:31 +0000

[...] the big day: they’ll be “Putting Patients First” at the National Press Club. The last panel of the event is on specialist care; it includes [...]

By: Patients for a Moment #3 « DUNCAN CROSS

Patients for a Moment #3 « DUNCAN CROSS — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:32:44 +0000

[...] Dr. Rob is going to Washington to talk health care this week, in a discussion event titled “Putting Patients First“. Let him know what that means to you. I’ll be attending the event, if only to keep him [...]

By: dx

dx — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:44:32 +0000

National Health Council – Thanks for the comments and heads-up. I would, however, be a lot happier about your organization if its membership didn’t include more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies and PhRMA itself. I have already written extensively about pharmaceutical money influencing advocacy agendas for patient groups, rather than letting patients speak for themselves. I’m not convinced NHC is any improvement on the issue.

By: National Health Council

National Health Council — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Too often the patient community is left out in discussions of health care reform and it’s time for a change. As luck would have it, this Friday’s bloggers event has the identical name as a National Health Council (NHC) campaign dedicated to Putting Patients First in health care. Made up of more than 100 national health-related organizations, the NHC’s core membership includes 50 of the nation’s leading patient advocacy organizations.

Our Campaign to Put Patients Firstis a nationwide initiative dedicated to mobilizing people with chronic diseases and disabilities to achieve effective and affordable health care – health care that meets their personal needs and goals. The Campaign is focused on 5 core principles (http://www.nationalhealthcouncil.org/forms/5-healthcare-principals.pdf) for Putting Patients First ® which will guide our efforts to improve health care in this country.

We encourage you to check out more information on the Campaign to Put Patients First at http://www.nationalhealthcouncil.org/pages/patients-first.php. We truly believe that it will be the united patient voice that makes a difference in this year’s health care reform debate. In the spirit of this Campaign and in an effort to represent the patient community as you recognize is essential, the NHC will be attending this bloggers event.

By: Questions for Robert Goldberg « DUNCAN CROSS

Questions for Robert Goldberg « DUNCAN CROSS — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:30:33 +0000

[...] Goldberg, PhD*, is the policy expert for the panel discussion this Friday. He is against any form of government intervention in health care, and has defended our health care [...]

By: Kairol Rosenthal

Kairol Rosenthal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:18:23 +0000

Hi Dr. Val,

Where is the invite for Duncan to sit on that panel? He is clearly qualified as one of the most politically savvy patient bloggers out there. Whereas many patient blogs simply gripe, Duncan has built wonderful bridges with lots of the panelists despite his difference in opinions. He’d be a fantastic addition, plus you wouldn’t have to answer his question as an audience member of why no patients are on the Putting Patients First Panel.

But just in case you don’t issue a last minute invite for him to participate on stage, can I be in charge of designing his costume that will make him identifiable to the large crowd of people who are excited to meet him?

Best,
Kairol

By: Especially defenseless, adorable babies « DUNCAN CROSS

Especially defenseless, adorable babies « DUNCAN CROSS — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:32:33 +0000

[...] it’s Kevin, MD, in a post picked up by Dr. Val for Better Health. Kevin’s part of the National Press Club event this Friday, organized by the same Dr. Val. When I pointed out the right-ward tilt of the event, Kevin [...]

By: The Bag of Health and Politics

The Bag of Health and Politics — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:19:54 +0000

And I totally agree with Duncan. Many patients don’t have a choice. Many are forced to not seek the treatments they need by the fact that they are uninsured or have poor coverage.

By: The Bag of Health and Politics

The Bag of Health and Politics — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:18:13 +0000

I appreciate the comment Val, and I do hope you find patient bloggers to participate that represent a different point of view.

That said, you haven’t answered the question I posed above. Are those who are participating in this event being paid for their appearance, or is their travel being comped? If so, was funds raised from the pharmaceutical, health insurance, and hospital industries used to pay for the appearance fee, travel, or the cost of renting out the national press club?

Those are very important questions which should be answered.