WAKE-UP CALL: Technocrats are Taking Over the Practice of Medicine

[Guest guest]

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic.

------------------------

WAKE-UP CALL: Technocrats are Taking Over the Practice of Medicine.

(St. , Minnesota) - A report meant to challenge current thinking in

health care reform was released today by Citizens' Council on Health

Care (CCHC).

Extensively documented, the report: " How Technocrats are Taking Over the

Practice of Medicine: A Wake-up Call to the American People, " shines a

bright light of openness on the terms " evidence-based medicine " and

" best practices, " including the purposes of proponents and the concerns

of critics.

" The public needs to understand that evidence-based medicine is an

attack on the patient-doctor relationship. EBM is not individualized

care. It is group-think medicine, " says Twila Brase, president of CCHC

and author of the report.

Noting the recent and growing inclusion of these terms in state and

federal law, Ms. Brase told news reporters last Thursday at an special

press briefing:

" If evidence-based medicine is not understood for what it is, managed

care will use it to solidify control over medical decisions and the

practice of medicine. Managed care will become the law of the land. "

CCHC stresses the following five points:

1)* The term " evidence-based medicine " (EBM) cannot be taken at face

value*. EBM/ is/ managed care. Same game, different name.

2)* Science, the purported foundation of EBM, is not incontestable*. In

research, there are subjective choices all along the road to creating

the " evidence " of EBM.

3)* Practice guidelines, used to implement EBM, have significant

problems*. These include out-of-date, biased, conflicting with each

other, lack of individualization, and single-disease focus.

4)* Under EBM, practice guidelines are becoming treatment mandates*.

Financial consequences are increasingly a possibility for doctors who do

not follow guidelines issued by health plans or government. Computer

systems to track and report physician adherence are being established.

5)* Patient harm can result from EBM, and its treatment mandates*.

Practice guidelines are written based on data collected from medical

records of many patients. They do not focus on the care, or the unique

circumstances and physiology, of individual patients. And, as has been

reported in England, they can be used to implement health care rationing.

" Control over medical decisions is being shifted from doctors to data

crunchers; from professionals at the bedside to bureaucrats in big

offices, " says Ms. Brase.

" The public should not be fooled by the nifty-sounding names.

Evidence-based medicine is managed care masquerading as science, "

The CCHC report can be viewed at: http://www.cchconline.org/pdfreport/

--

Citizens' Council on Health Care

1954 University Avenue West, Suite 8, St. , MN 55104

Phone: / Fax: Email: info@...

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/