Jane Hamsher: House Health Care Bill: A Death Sentence For My Fellow Breast Cancer Survivors

[seafan]

This is absolutely heartbreaking. We have, honest-to-God, been sold out.




I'm Jane, and I'm a breast cancer survivor



Jane writes:


October 29, 2009

There was much celebration on Capitol Hill today with the announcement of the new House health care bill. For myself, as a three time breast cancer survivor, there was tremendous sadness and disappointment in the Speaker.

Nancy Pelosi made a choice with regard to the lifesaving biologic drugs I took when I was in chemotherapy that will cost many of my fellow breast cancer survivors everything they own, and quite possibly their lives.

Jane goes on to describe the specific plights of a breast cancer survivor, a rheumatoid arthritis patient and a Crohn’s patient, who are required to pay exorbitant amounts for their biologic drugs to treat their conditions, at times reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.



Jane continues:

But thanks to Representatives Anna Eshoo and Joe Barton, there will be no generic versions of these drugs. At least not for 12 years, if the House health care bill announced today passes. And because of an “evergreening” clause that grants drug companies a continued monopoly if they make slight changes to the drug (like creating a once-a-day dose where the original product was three times per day), they will never become generics. Instead of the Waxman-Deal amendment that granted much more reasonable terms to biologic patent holders, Speaker Pelosi chose the Eshoo-Barton amendment. And we could all be paying for that choice for the rest of our lives.

Breast cancer boards are filled with women who have been turned down by their insurance companies for Herceptin because they only cover generic drugs, or because they only pay a portion of the $48,000 a year (or more) that the drug costs.

.....

This is deeply, deeply wrong. It’s immoral for Congress to give endless monopolies to pharmaceutical companies on these cutting edge drugs in this bill. If an AIDS vaccine is found, it too will be a biologic.

These drug manufacturers argue that the cost of developing biologics is so expensive that they need the extra patent time to recoup their investment, or they won’t have any incentive to develop them. Hogwash. A study done by Drs. Joe DiMasi and Hank Grabowski, who are funded by PhRMA, concluded that the cost for developing biologics is $1.3 billion, as opposed to $1.2 billion for conventional drugs.

And as for incentive for development? As bleicher of Blue Mass Group notes, granting endless monopolies for slight changes encourages companies NOT to innovate:

(T)]hey will have far less reason or incentive to invest in patentable new cures, and will have every reason to invest in low risk, incremental development of existing products to reap (without taking risk) the same profitable rewards. In the short term, some of our local companies may like this protection of their products, but over the long term, as we fail to incent investment in new discovery research, our biotechnology edge will decline and the rest of the world will pass us by as they invent the next generation of products.

There is nothing good about this legislation, unless you’re Roche, Eli Lilly, Schering-Plough or any of the other giant pharmaceutical companies reaping huge profits off these blockbuster drugs of the future. About a quarter of new drugs, and half of important new drugs are biologics. This is nothing short of an attempt to sew up the future at the expense of you and your children.

So POP is joining to together with students like Laura Musselwhite and others in the AMSA for a Halloween “treat, not trick” demonstration this Friday at four locations around the country. I’ll be there with medical students in Washington DC at the Russell Senate office building as they arrive fully costumed in their white coats and give out “treats,” urging Senators not to “trick” the nation’s patients with a bad ‘biologic’ medicines proposal.

Please join us:

DATE: FRIDAY, OCT. 30

Washington, DC: Russell Senate Office Bldg, Constitution & Delaware at 3:00 pm

Baltimore, MD: Barbara Mikulski’s office, 1629 Thames St. at 2:30 pm

Raleigh, NC: Senator Kay Hagan’s office, 310 New Bern Ave @ 1:30 pm

Palo Alto, CA: Anna Eshoo’s office, 698 Emerson St, Palo Alto at 2:00 pm

These students are fighting for us, fighting for our future. Please join me in supporting them, and their commitment to being healers who want to give their patients the very best care that they can. They don’t want their hands tied by this bill. I have been helping them organize and they are just so wonderful.

Even if you’re not in close to one of the events, you can help out by joining the POP Facebook Group, Tweeting about the events and donating to POP.

And please call your member of Congress and tell them that this is a terrible bill that will sentence breast cancer survivors and others to financial ruin and death. For the sake of everyone in need of health care in the future, please tell them to vote “no” on this cruel piece of legislation crafted to maximize drug company profits at the cost of human lives.

Related thread:

Jane Hamsher: Are You Or Someone You Know Paying $50,000 A Year For Drugs?

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Off to greatest...

I've lost count of how many times we've been sold out already.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

57. Please, STOP denying a step forward from the past.

ANY possibility of health care reform was COMPLETELY ABSENT,...merely one year ago!!!!

WTF is the matter with people, these days? Are their perspectives SO LOST IN POLITICS they are officially, "blind"?

Or, is the cultural "instant gratification" associated with our capitalistic society skewing everyone's perspective.

I am hurting, really bad, as an uninsured "American". I'll die, prematurely, because ER access is not a place to receive long-term treatment.

I am ENTHUSIASTIC about the mere possibility others will not have to die, prematurely.

What is wrong with that?

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

59. NO REFORM = DEATH SENTENCE nt

[dflprincess]

61. The bill that came out today is not reform

it is protection of the status quo. It forces us to buy coverage from the same old crooks (who Obama and so many Dems admit are dishonest or they wouldn't insist they need to be "kept honest") it allows for thousands in annual out pocket expenses, plus up to 11% of your income going to premiums, but it does nothing to guarantee better access care.

[truedelphi]

77. And like Jane Hamsher points out, the drugs will be

Allowed a most horrible season as patented creations of the drug manufacturers. Who fleece us mercilessly.

[dflprincess]

88. And, the provisions in the bill will only START to close the donut hole

for Medicare D. According to a Congresscritter (didn't catch the name) on Stephanie Miller's show this morning it will be 10 years before it's complete gone. Nothing was said about whether that's 10 years from when the bill is signed or if the clock starts running in 2013 when the public "option" becomes avaiable to a few people.

It makes no sense that the donut hole isn't done away with immediately.

[Name removed]

120. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[placton]

the more I find out about the House Bill

the more I, truly, want to vomit. God, what truly awful people these are. Pelosi. Reid. Obama, and the rest of the pack of the 535 thieves we call our government. They even prohibit states from enacting single payer. :puke:

[inna]

116. jesus. i hate to say that i agree with your assessment. :(

[annabanana]

2. Heartbreaking.

Why should they be insured of obscene profits for so many years while people suffer.

[freddie mertz]

3. It is so disgusting, I could vomit.

nt

[truedelphi]

76. Same here. Sold out, sold out and sold out.

I have very little faith left in my legislators or The Guy in the Executive Office.

They only consider us when election season has cycled around.

[nashville_brook]

4. Jane Hamsher is my hero.

[Karmadillo]

5. Wait until the Obama Administration finds out about this. Then you'll see results! Book it!

nt

[emilyg]

30. Dream on.

[bvar22]

32. Some things you need to know about "The Obama Administration".

"President Obama told the committee chairman, George Miller, to oppose Kucinich's amendment, and he did so, leading off the voting with a resounding "No."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6880388

This is the amendment that would allow states to start their own single payer systems.
Obama and the Blue Dogs were unsuccessful at stripping out the Kucinich Amendment in this committee.
They had to go behind closed doors and have Nancy Pelosi personally strip out this amendment.

You DO see which team Obama is playing on?

[truedelphi]

78. Some of us have seen this about him since the very beginning

Novemebr 2008 - not even three weeks after we voted him in.

He announces to "Sixty Minutes" that "Hank is working hard," showing the Powers That Be how he will offer us the same policies that George W would have dished out for us - though Obama serves them up ever so much more graciously and charismatically.

[inna]

106. Oh-My-God.

WTF is wrong with Obama???

[flyarm]

33. you forgot the sarcasm thingy..didn't you?? Surely you did! this was done because of Obama's secret

deals with big Pharma..COUNT- ON- THAT!

[earcandle]

54. worth 81 billion or was it a mere 81 million?

[midnight armadillo]

62. I believe the deal was for 30 pieces of silver

But don't worry! We'll have 4 years to tinker and get it right before the bill takes effect! or something.

[bobbolink]

43. BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[burning rain]

74. Indeed.

As Russian peasants used to sigh, "Ah! If only our dear father, the Tsar, knew!"

[MadMaddie]

6. When the Medicaire bill passed it was far from perfect

it has since been adjusted and tweaked. The important thing was the bill was passed. This bill has many flaws but if it gets passed it can be tweaked and modified.

What is the alternative no bill? Continue to let the Insurance companies destroy Americans with pre-existing conditions and other rejections, let them continue to raise premiums until no American can afford them.

Indeed I agree with the Author about the generic drugs.....but it is something that with the will of the people can be fixed.

[placton]

7. please please please

take off the blinders? you just cannot rationally go on excusing this kind of behavior.

[ipaint]

10. Medicare enrolled 93% of the population it was intended for,

over 65, in the first year. It was not thrown into a marketplace of for profit giants and expected to sink or swim on a tiny fraction of those eligible.

The public option will be the dumping ground for the sickest patients the ins. giants find too expensive. Very convenient for them but a guaranteed financial death sentence to a puny "public" option.

[flyarm]

34. AND THE PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER AN ELECTION 4 YEARS AWAY FOR IT TO KICK IN!

[EFerrari]

51. You know, Ecuador just told Big Pharma that it would not honor their monopolies.

Ecuador -- one of the smallest countries in South America.

[flyarm]

72. and who are the smart people? and who are the damn fools? n/t

[Demeter]

81. Where are the Free and the Brave?

Very shortly, the Unfree and the Fearful will have to take to the streets because the Free and Brave have sold out to the highest bidder.

[wolfgangmo]

13. "With the will of the people...?"

What people? You can't be talking about American's because they ain't got it in them to get this done. If this was France the streets would be blocked and politicians would have to hide for fear of getting lynched or burned alive.

But here in America. Ain't gonna happen. The "will" of the "people" does not exist.

[Knight Hawk]

35. You Are Correct

The French had their revolution in1789 and it was against their own power structure not against a colonizer.The clergy ,nobility and government had done a number on the people for years ,until the "people" rose up and took control.This populist sentiment still stirs in the French heart.

[Le Taz Hot]

82. And they sent 1500 people a DAY to the guillotine at the height.

History agrees with the reasons the French Revolution started, but please don't ignore the horrendous excesses these "reformers" perpetrated on INNOCENT people, including the the Prince who they tortured and starved to death. I think he was 6.

[inna]

107. this whole topic is absolutely fascinating.

[Better Believe It]

14. But it was a good progressive bill and this insurance industry bill is beginning to stink!!

And it was called Medicare, not Medicaire.

[CrispyQ]

22. Live in the now.

We no longer live in the United States of America, but rather, the United Corporations of America.

Since Reagan began the privatization of the American Commons, our public officials are more severely compromised than ever, the dems only slightly less so than the repubs. By the time this bill goes into effect, any small part that protects We the People will be watered down so the Corporations can continue to bleed us dry while reporting spectacular profits. A 10% public option cannot compete with the insurance industry. The public option was designed to fail. There will be no fixing it - not in our favor anyway.

I'm so fucking sick of the "medicare was far from perfect when it was passed" excuse. We've been sold a bill of goods by a government that no longer serves the People.

===
Buying Brand Obama

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/04

snip...

Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, our elected officials continue to have their palms greased by armies of corporate lobbyists, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, we are being duped into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.

[Fire1]

86. "no longer serves the people?" Since when has "capitalism"

EVER served the people????????????? Single payer/Universal or whatever you want to call it, is the product of a Socialist economy. It ain't happening in a capitalist country. It's just that simple. Big pharma, insurance industry and health care in general and EVERYTHING in this country is TIED TO CAPITALISM and IT WILL NOT CHANGE as long as the U.S. is a CAPITALIST COUNTRY. PERIOD.

[CrispyQ]

95. I concede your point.

Our government only 'serves the people' to the degree that it keeps us from storming the Bastille. However, it appears they are becoming confident that we won't do that, as pick away at what little social contract we have left.

:hi:

[slipslidingaway]

27. Medicare was open to everyone 65 and older, the government did not give subsidies...

to people over 65 to purchase private insurance, therefore knocking out the competition.

Medicare had a ready pool of subscribers which allowed them to negotiate prices with providers, the public option has no such ready pool as people can chose to purchase from a private insurance company.

Over 90% of seniors were enrolled in Medicare by the end of the FIRST year.

Obama says that just over 3%, according to the CBO estimate he quoted, would be enrolled in a public option by 2019.

The basic benefits were automatically available to everyone over 65 and financed by an increased payroll tax.

It did not have to be self-financed in contrast with the current public option bills.


How people can say the initial bills on Medicare and the public option are comparable is mind boggling.


http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/16/tom-price/medicares-history-public-option/


"...He started with the administration's proposal to cover hospital services for the elderly, now known as Medicare Part A. He also included a proposal promoted by the committee's senior Republican member, John Byrnes of Wisconsin, who wanted coverage for physicians' services, now Medicare Part B. Finally, Mills included coverage for poor elderly Americans, which is today's Medicaid...

...Here's how an April 8, 1965, report in the New York Time s described the plan:

"As revised, the bill provides the basic hospitalization and nursing care benefits originally proposed by the administration while covering major doctor bills and many other medical expenses under a supplementary insurance program in which participation would be voluntary.

"The basic benefits, financed by increases in the Social Security payroll tax, would be automatically available to persons over 65. The additional coverage would be available to those over 65 who enrolled in the voluntary plan and paid premiums of $3 a month. Half of the voluntary plan's cost would be financed by federal subsidies of about $600 million a year from general tax revenues."

Johnson signed the Medicare law on July 30, 1965, and the program's aministrators began an intensive recruitment drive. At the end of the first year, participation was up to 93 percent of the elderly, according to The Politics of Medicare , a history by Theodore Marmor.

As we reviewed the history of Medicare, we noticed that legislators and policymakers drafting the legislation seemed to assume that Medicare participation would be very high. We could find nothing implying that Medicare coverage would compete with private insurers in paying for coverage...

This is markedly different from today's debate and discussion about the public option. Obama has said the public option would be one among many insurance proposals from which people could choose, and that it would be a backstop to keep private insurers honest. He also said it should not be subsidized by other tax revenues but pay for itself with customer premiums..."

[BrklynLiberal]

65. yep.

[slipslidingaway]

67. But we were told to think of the public option as being "like Medicare" ...

and most of the polls used the M word as well.

[BrklynLiberal]

104. We were lied to!!

:wow: :sarcasm:

[BREMPRO]

28. +1

[EFerrari]

53. Yeah, and I'm just lucky my mother didn't die from going without her

blood pressure medicine because she couldn't afford it.

Edit to add: I thought you were talking about the RX bill.

[xxqqqzme]

87. I, quite frankly, am exhausted from hearing this

rationalization. These ass clowns, who enjoy THEIR own version of insurance options, and face no threat of 'pre-existing conditions', have had the last 9 months to get this right. All they had to do was 'tweak' medicare here and there and offer it to all un- and under-insured. That is all they had to do. No gun toting tea baggers showing up throughout the month of August, no multiple millions of insurance lobby dollars (your premiums at work) flooding DC. No 1900+ pages of double speak bullshit that accomplishes nothing.

The last 9 months have instead been spent figuring out how to offer the un- and under-insured a platter of shit all the while insisting it was good for you and really isn't what it appears to be. But don't worry because in FOUR fucking years it won't look like that at all. And only an additional 176,000 people will have died while we were all waiting.

[sabrina 1]

109. Exactly, a succinct analysis of what could easily have been

done by the majority party if they wanted to do it. What actually has been done should tell all those who believed a Democratic majority would get things done, that despite all the campaign promises, the Corporations run this country and they, no matter who won, were going to call the shots.

Marcy Kaptur explained it in 'Capitalism, A Love Story' when Michael Moore asked her why Congress caved so often even with Dems in the majority. Pointing towards the Capital Building she said ~ 'They, are not in charge anymore'.

[mod mom]

8. The corporate Dems sold us out again. SHAMEFUL what they'll do for the almighty $!

[cascadiance]

9. They want to clean our wallets for their buddies? It's time to CLEAN HOUSE and get OUR buddies in!

Time to get some serious legislators in that will get rid of the institutionalized bribery and be committed to passing public campaign financing to get rid of the corporate rule! These CORPORATE BASTARDS and their government slaves are LITERALLY killing us all for their royal castles!

[seafan]

11. To recap--~90% aren't eligible; full effect after 2013; drug profits shielded; no state single payer

... and Sen. Tom Harkin told Ed Schultz this afternoon that there is "no specific date" in this legislation for stripping the antitrust exemption from these companies, but not to worry because it *will be negotiated at a later date*.


Meanwhile, millions of people are thrown into the muddle of *exchanges* and *forced individual mandates* to buy private insurance without any other option.


And Susan Bayh and Hadassah Lieberman can keep on lobbying their husbands for their employers.




Is it time yet?

[depakid]

12. Kissing up to PhARMA on patents, eh?

Color me surprised.

:sarcasm:

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. Yet another reason

for me to abstain for voting for some incumbents when they come up for re-election. Fuck the sorry bastards.

[debbierlus]

16. Outrage. There is a LOT of outrage to go around with the private insurance wet dream bill

[theFrankFactor]

17. Liberals Are NOT Represented! This is a Royal FUCK Job and No Surprise

[berni_mccoy]

18. Where does it say these drugs won't be covered under the Public Option?

[seafan]

21. Hamsher gives substantive evidence at her link:

More from Jane:


.....

Breast cancer boards are filled with women who have been turned down by their insurance companies for Herceptin because they only cover generic drugs, or because they only pay a portion of the $48,000 a year (or more) that the drug costs.


Cheryl, a Stage IV breast cancer survivor, writes:

As my socialized plan has decided to stop paying for my herceptin, I’m now looking at paying “out of pocket”. My insurance won’t cover herceptin. Let’s see, $142K a year. I don’t think my house is worth that much. I was curious about this thread because I suspected herceptin cost about that much but wasn’t sure.

I’m trying not to freak out about this too much. My children need a home and that appears to be my next option.

I think it’s time for me to start sitting on the corner with a tin cup.

Another survivor writes:

Well, I just got my insurance explanation of benefits, and they are treating it as a pharm…which means I have to pay $553. I can’t afford this drug. I’ll try appealing to the ins. co (which means calling between working hours, and I can’t afford any more time off to deal with this.)

I’m not happy.

A man named Karl writes:

My mom is 2+ in ICH and now 3.89 ratio in FISH. The onc said she’ll have 6-8 sessions of chemo and she could take the herceptin while doing chemo or after chemo. Not sure what does 3.89 means or how does it affect the cancer. Another thing that we’re worried of is the price of Herceptin. The price is too high and we’re not sure if we can afford it.

.....


And more:

Jeanne Sather is another breast cancer survivor. In 2007, she wrote on her blog The Assertive Patient:

I love Herceptin, a drug I have been getting to treat my metastatic breast cancer for more than five years now….The main reason I love Herceptin is that it is a targeted antibody, without the side effects of traditional cancer drugs: hair loss, fatigue, nausea, vomiting—you know the list.

The cost of Jeanne’s miracle “biologic” cancer drugs, Herceptin and Avastin, was $300,000 a year in 2006. By the time she switched to another biologic drug, Tykerb, she was within a few months of hitting her lifetime cap of $1 million:

Even with the help of a special state health insurance plan, the 53-year-old freelance writer is struggling to afford the expensive new drugs that are helping her in her battle.

“I’ve been borrowing against my house to make ends meet, and that can’t go on,” Sather says. “I’m so afraid these drugs will cost me my home.”

Jeanne fought. She and others went to the state capital and lobbied to have the cap raised. “Now I am safe for another few years,” she said.

But she is not alone. Biologic drugs also treat rheumatoid arthritis:

Access was the issue for Theresa Manville, 61, of Bay Village, Ohio, who simply could not afford the rheumatoid arthritis drugs she needed. She was laid off from her job as a senior account manager at a public relations firm in 1992, and though she started her own company, she could not get private insurance because her arthritis was considered a preexisting condition.

“Today,” Manville says, “I’m on Medicare disability because I didn’t have these drugs and my RA progressed. My joints deteriorated. My hands are deformed. I used to be a runner, a softball player and scuba diver. Now I need special orthotics in my shoes just to walk. And I’m going to need replacement surgery in my right knee.

“Think of the pressure on the health care system, just from me,” Manville says. “If I’d had the drugs 10 years ago, I could be independent today. I might not even be on disability.”

Medical student Laura Musselwhite tells the story of a patient who was hospitalized with Crohn’s disease:

This patient required hospitalization for a flare that she attributed to not being able to afford the month’s Humira, a biologic medicine used to treat severe, active Crohn’s disease.

The drug is priced by Abbott Laboratories at a staggering $22,000 a year. This patient would clearly have benefited from the availability of an affordable, generic version.

This bill protects the monopolistic patents for these cutting-edge drugs that so many patients need.


If these patients cannot afford 50K-300K a year for these medications, with no generic drug substitutes that are more affordable, even more people will die.


And this time, it will be because of cowardly/corporatist Democrats. There are absolutely no more excuses for this.

[berni_mccoy]

40. All that is not evidence. It is people's stories about their INSURANCE companies not covering

the drugs. That is what HR3200 is designed to prevent. There will be no lifetime caps allowed. There will be no denial of service if a doctor says it is medically necessary. You will not be forced to take generics if the doctor says this isn't so. I'm sorry, but this is an unsupported attack on the House Healthcare Bill.

[sabrina 1]

55. Who will pay for those drugs to keep these people alive?

Are you trying to tell us that the same private industry who has turned people down for far less expensive treatment, and WHO WROTE the Baucus bill, have had a sudden change of 'heart' and will now pay for them?

Stop trying to make excuses. This isn't the Bush years anymore. Democrats are in control. No more telling us 'just wait, when Dems have control, we'll fix this'. Since 2006, one hundred thousands Americans have died. Why does this not cause Americans to go out into the streets and do what Europeans do whenever their government tries to mess with their rights?

Because of this kind of sucking up to one party or the other. Unless we get a bill that saves lives, not saves the Insurance Companies profits, right now, I'm looking at Obama and the rest of his administration, as one of the best conmen I've seen in politics since I started paying attention. He fooled me, but not any more.

[berni_mccoy]

68. The OP makes an unsubstantiated claim. It's up to them to provide supporting evidence.

And you bring nothing to the discussion with your point. The drugs will be paid for out of the premiums of the Public Option.

[flyarm]

44. don't waste your time..the cheerleader brigade knows damn well what the fuck they are pushing..

they are pushing Insurance Corporate Health and Pharma Welfare..at the cost of human lives!

They don't give one fat rats ass crap about real health care reform..they are shills for this shit!

and they know, we know, damn well who they are and what their agenda is!

and don't be fooled..they have an agenda! and it sure as hell has nothing to do with health care reform!

[berni_mccoy]

69. Fine, can't make a reasoned argument, so call people names. There is no substance to the OP

to support the claim that is being made.

[flyarm]

70. i have no interest in an argument ..the dye was cast when Obama had secret meetings with Big Pharma

and the Insurance CEO's and the hospital big wigs..we were sold out , there is no argument about it!

People are going to continue to die because of the sell out..and those that support this shit have the blood on their hands,..whats to argue..the death squads are the cheerleaders to this bullshit and those in congress and the senate that sic the propagandists on the American people!

And those in this white house that sold the American people out for $$ and their eye on getting re-elected.

I have done all the arguing with repugs and so many people to get dems elected only to be sold out for Insurance and big Pharma welfare reform..

this is not , i repeat not.. Health care reform!

They won't get my vote ever again! I am done arguing!

go ahead and keep your blinders on..I would bet you won't get breast cancer and won't have to worry about not being able to get the meds to keep you alive!

I can't bet that about my sister, or daughter in law or granddaughter or my nieces!

I saw my mother die this way..so please spare me your bullshit!

I have had enough!..and these bastards have gotten all of the money and work from me that they are ever going to get!

Confidential House report reveals details of investigations into lawmakers, aides

House ethics investigators have scrutinized the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July. The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com - http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/2GZNC0/MXWTY/HI7BTB/U6VWJY/4ZIX9/YT/t

[whathappened]

83. thank you

they will all pay on election day , these bastards have all bought ear plugs in dc

[MissMarple]

19. Why is Congress practicing medicine? Did Bill Frist send them a video?

Or did they all stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night?

[pleah]

20. K&R

[Ardent15]

23. I have emailed an activist who has ties to Eshoo and others in the Bay Area...

..about this amendment.

[Fumesucker]

24. Wait until the Democrats have a majority in Congress and retake the presidency..

Then we won't have to put up with this crap any longer, they'll stand up for us little people..

[earth mom]

25. Meanwhile there are DUers who are trying to shove this plan down our throats

along with all the other bad policies of the Obama administration. :grr:

[slipslidingaway]

26. knr - but Where the HELL was everyone back in July, August, September and October ...

this amendment has been in both the House and Senate bills since July.

PNHP pointed this out back in July...the group not invited to the discussions and dismissed here on DU by some people.

:grr:

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/july/senate_help_amendmen.php

"Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD

For the past week or so I’ve been live-streaming the Executive Session of the Senate HELP Committee as they have been marking up the Kennedy health care reform bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act. It has been running at the corner of my computer screen while I have worked on other projects. Since I am not competent at multi-tasking, I’m pretty jaded right now.

Last evening’s session devoted to the data exclusivity amendment was the longest amount of time they spent on any issue in the reform legislation. I stopped my other work to watch it. This morning, I’m not only jaded, but I’m also depressed. I’ll tell you why.

Earlier in the day yesterday, I sent out the following quote from Bill Moyers: “Nothing will change — nothing — until the money lenders are tossed out of the temple, the ATM’s are wrested from the marble halls, and we tear down the sign they’ve placed on government — the one that reads, ‘For Sale.’”

I didn’t sleep last night. Instead of counting sheep, I kept watching, in my nightmare, each of those Senators who voted yes picking up their bundle from the ATM machine in the marble halls on their way out as they passed the “For Sale” sign at the door.

But this isn’t about my nightmare. It’s about the 307 million of us who are the merchandise in Congress’s rummage sale. That’s why I’m depressed."


July 16th...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6077877&mesg_id=6078617

July 23rd...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6129724&mesg_id=6129724

July 27th...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6164248&mesg_id=6165037

September 9th

http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8637982&mesg_id=8638004

October 24th...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6848443&mesg_id=6848443

October 27th...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6866481&mesg_id=6866481

[demodonkey]

29. I personally was out at Town Halls getting yelled at by teabaggers, and pounding the halls of...

...Congress in D.C. for HR 2894 for Voter-Verified Paper Ballots in July before they left for Recess (fair elections matter too, you know, and we still don't have them.)

Oh, and fighting hard for my disabled mother to get the healthcare she needs, which is hard to do these days even though she has good insurance; and all the while being called a crook by one of her FORMER healthcare "providers" because I advocate hard for her to get what she needs.

You??

[slipslidingaway]

31. Not expecting anyone to say what they were doing personally...

many people post and read DU. Some threads just drop and all too often attention is paid to the story of the day and what the mainstream media is promoting. More of a general observation on the distractions.

Of course fair elections and your Mom matter more.

:)

[flyarm]

38. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE TEA BAGGERS DEMANDING REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM!

We should have been at those meeting demanding to know what Obama's secret meeting entailed with Big Pharma and the Hospital Ceo's and the insurance corp ceo's..we should have been slamming fists and demanding answers! We should have been the damn ugly ones ..because we were sold out long before those town hall meetings by those in our own party that we have pounded the pavements for, and donated money to , and spent endless hours to get elected!

It is us who should have been the nasty ones ..because it is all of us who have been sold out.

Next time the cheerleaders tell us we should "be happy" tell them to go fuck off..and tell the they are partly responsible for letting their mothers and sisters and wives and daughters die from breast cancer!

Those little assholes who call themselves "dems" make me puke! I will call them what they are..they are murderers ..they have helped serve you a platter of shit on a shingle!

[slipslidingaway]

52. Protest against your own Party??? Most would not be willing to do so...

even constructive criticism is frowned upon.

:(

[GreenTea]

36. Health Care: Eleven Ways That the House Bill is Better -

We need to fight for an even better bill...Like demanding Dennis Kucinich's amendment be included.

http://firedoglake.com/

Firedoglake is of course also Jane Hamsher web site.

Donate.

[FLAprogressive]

37. go Jane!!!!!!!

[flyarm]

39. Jane is a hero..and she has been smeared here at Du by the fucking cheerleaders of this bullshit

of the Corporate Health Insurance and Pharma Welfare Bill!

[Generator]

41. I gotta wean myself off DU

and spend time on that one and Greenwald or anywhere else. I'm tired of this mass hysteria of believing a crumb here and there is going to stop us starving in the end. It's just pathetic. They are tired of us whining the sky is falling-well people are dying and Obama is a lousy leader. And basically in the end, a goddamn scam artist.

[flyarm]

47. I myself have spent a great deal of time at Firedoglake..they at least are trying to do something

about all this shit and cheerleading is not tolerated by the sell outs!

remember , the next person that faces this could be the woman who lies in the bed next to you, or your daughter,.or sister........or your neighbor, or best friend!

[truedelphi]

79. + 1.

We have started calling him "Oscama" at our household - feel free to try it at yours.

[Honeycombe8]

42. Hate to hear this. But this is something that is fixable in the future. Easier to amend ...

It is far easier to amend a provision later than to fight for every single benefit when grappling with an entire reformation up front.

The bill, however it ends up, simply cannot contain everything that every American wants. That is impossible.

And let's not forget...there will be many amendments to the House and Senate bills. Maybe this generic thing will be one of them.

[flyarm]

46. oh bullshit..how many have to die of breast cancer first???????

save the bullshit okay..it is old and tired! and people are dying!

maybe even your mother next??

[Honeycombe8]

49. Bullshit. Well, I can see why you didn't win the arguments over this, if that's your

idea of a reasoned argument.

It's hard to fight those pesky things called facts, isn't it?

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have everything in the bill. Do you understand the word "impossible"? Something (s) are inevitably left out.

Far more people will die from this bill not passing than from the generica loosening legislation not passing at this time.

If your goal is to save lives, then I'm sure you will start supporting this very good bill. If that's your goal. If your goal is simply to complain, then nothing will suffice, since NOTHING has ever been or will ever be perfect and complete. Life isn't like that. Wake up and smell the coffee. People are dying! This bill needs to pass. The stamps of approval are racking up from everywhere...the bill is being recognized as the good bill that it is. Not a first choice. But real reform that includes a public option.

The provision that is missing that would loosen the generic qualification MAY be added before it's all over. You never know. If not, it can be added in the future.

[flyarm]

50. I don't need to win an argument..the argument was won..by the fucking dems in this congress..and on

that women will die..no one wins ..not one woman wins! Do you get that???? do -you- get- that???????

[noiretextatique]

92. i get it...i am a breast cancer survivor

:grr: this is absolutely infuriating and unacceptable. eshoo and others will soon feel the wrath of millions of women like me.

[LynneSin]

100. You do realize this isn't about Breast Cancer

I mean use the logic and not the passion.

There are many many ways to treat Breast Cancer, this happens to be one of them - a newer field. But it's not Breast Cancer only.

Second, there is no reason that women cannot use other forms of treatment for Breast Cancer. I mean geez, the way some of these posts are being made it sounds like HCR says that we are to never ever do anything for Breast Cancer again. And even still this isn't about women - there are many many other causes. Hell, what about the little children with diabetes? What aobut the old men with rheumatoid arthritis. But I guess it just sounds better to say "OMG THE DEMOCRATS HATE WOMEN".

This bill can easily be revisited on it's own merits. Of course it would take the work on our part to help get it happened and btw, if Biologics do work you have major lobbying firms like Susan G. Korman, JDF and other groups that are very effective at lobbying for this stuff.

[madmax]

71. Yes, well Jane and I hope they amend it sooner

rather than later. :( tick tock

[sabrina 1]

110. That's what we were told about Clinton's horrendous

Welfare Bill. We can fix it later! How long ago was that? Is it even an issue anymore? What about all the other bills that were supposed to 'better than nothing' that would be 'fixed later', like Income Tax, eg.

Either it gets done right now, or it will be decades before it can even be talked about again. I would rather they drop it now, than pass these hand-outs to the Insurance Industry. This is about people's LIVES!

[bobbolink]

45. If this is how it pans out, it's time to plan an Underground Railroad for life-saving drugs.

Do we have the guts?

[troubledamerican]

60. No. It's time to build an Underground Railroad for leaving for Canada

like smart people have been doing since pre-Lincoln.

[bobbolink]

117. Canada doesn't take poor people either. Too bad you had to answer "NO" so quickly.

Not everyone is able to do what you can do.

[tnlefty]

48. I admire Jane very much.

I lurk at firedoglake quite a bit these past few months. This makes me want to vomit.:-(

:kick:

[Vidar]

56. K&R

[McCamy Taylor]

58. As soon as the fed start paying the bills, they will force every provider to cut costs,

and that includes the drug companies, which is why Big Pharm is so determined to keep things the way they are. If the government is the only payer, as in Europe, they will hold all the bargaining power. Inevitably, when the budget gets tight, they will start looking for ways to cut costs. With Medicare, they do it by keeping providers reimbursement at the minimum level that will allow them to get by. The Medicare Free Money Give Away to Drug Companies aka Part D is a fluke that the GOP created to drum up donor dollars. It is not going to survive future budget cuts. Costs will come down.

[BobTheSubgenius]

63. As much as I dislike having to,

I'm giving this post the K&R. Everyone needs do know this.

[AzDar]

64. This hurts. It really does.

[BrklynLiberal]

66. K n R

[Skittles]

73. are you getting it now, people?

[truedelphi]

98. That is my new sig line. Thank you. n/t

[winyanstaz]

75. This is bad news indeed.

[timzi]

80. Some Have Sold Out - Others Have Wimped Out (Obama)

Bottom line, and it is not too early to say this, the Dems have been monumental failures in the fight to resolve the national crisis in health care and insurance availability. Didn't learn anything from the '92 - '94 phenomenon. They had one chance and they blew it.

This will be a bad bill, and I'm not so sure that those who think it can be tweaked over time understand that it has just as good a chance of be scraped as an example of a "Government Socialism Failure". Obama made this his benchmark issue. Now we see him failing to lead, failing to put his balls on the line, to use the bully pulpit he has, to convince and threaten, to exert whatever power he can and to do whatever it takes. His starting the process by taking single payer off of the table should have been a clue that his interest is in getting a second term. Too bad he couldn't have instead decided "To hell with a second term, I'm going to make my first one a barn-burner". We as a country don't need him specifically, there are other good men. We as a country do need a humane national health system.

[NorthCarolina]

84. Perhaps it would be best to scrap any Health Care Legislation for the time being, and revisit

after we have had an opportunity to vote out Blue Dogs and DLC members and replace them with true progressives. If this includes voting out Obama, which appears may be necessary, then so be it. It is time for the citizens of this country to force "Change We Can Believe In".

The citizens of this country should also be pushing hard for campaign finance reform and term limits. The need for this has become abundantly clear throughout the health care debate.

[philly_bob]

85. REC: all true, but "biologics" are new & should be handled in separate bill.

As I understand it, "biologics" are grown, not mixed, and they involve huge molecules compared to typical pharmaceuticals. Certifying generic versions of something that is grown is scientifically complicated.

I'm not surprised biologics are out of the heavily-compromised health bill, but Congress should deal with the subject ASAP.

Here's a report on the subject from the FTC: http://www2.ftc.gov/opa/2009/06/biologics.shtm. An FTC Commissioner, Pamela Jones Harbour, has made generic biologics one of her key issues.

[slipslidingaway]

97. I agree they should be in seperate bill, although I have not read the report...

it has been reported that the FTC recommended zero years for data exclusivity, some people wanted 5 or 7. The bio industry and National Venture Capital Association argued for at least 12 years.

[philly_bob]

105. When they're down to arguing over slices of the pie ...

they shouldn't be too far from working it out.

I have no opinion on what exclusivity term should be. Do you? It sounds like the familiar trade-off between rewarding research and reducing consumer costs.

I know one thing: it shouldn't be determined by campaign contributions.

[slipslidingaway]

113. No personal opinion about the time period, several people wanted 5 years...

Obama suggested 7 years as a compromise, bios wanted 12 years, FTC report say zero years.

"I know one thing: it shouldn't be determined by campaign contributions."

:thumbsup:


http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1931595-2,00.html

"...Waxman had pushed to shield biologics for no more than five years — the same amount of time that traditional pharmaceuticals get under the Hatch-Waxman law. President Obama proposed seven years as a compromise.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), though, argued in June that giving biologics makers any period of exclusivity at all could actually stifle innovation. Biologics are so much more complex and expensive to produce than traditional drugs that the barriers to would-be "biosimilar" competitors are already high, the FTC said. Giving biologics further protection — particularly the 12 years of exclusivity that the industry wants — would merely encourage firms to tinker with what they have rather than drive them toward "new inventions to address unmet medical needs."

...Shifting Politics

That makes the politics — and the lines of political influence — a lot more difficult to sort out. Whereas the traditional pharmaceutical industry is concentrated in just a couple of states, biotech firms have sprung up just about anywhere you find a university with a research hospital, which gives them a broad political base. "I know that vote hurt me at home," says Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who led the unsuccessful fight against the 12-year exclusivity in the Senate HELP Committee...


...How it is resolved — in favor of protecting the biotech industry or opening up the market to generics — may say a lot about which interest groups will ultimately reap the windfall of the big-stakes battle in Washington. What it means for consumers is somewhat murkier: Will a miracle cure be there when you need one? And if it is, will you be able to afford it? Those are questions that hinge on whether the rest of us can trust Congress to find proper balance between competition and innovation."

[Canuckistanian]

89. Thom Hartmann talking about this post now

Hi Thom!

[FlyByNight]

90. Repulsive

This is, essentially, a death panel.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

91. K&R

[bullwinkle428]

93. Kick for Thom H. talking to Jane H. right now!

www.thomhartmann.com

[avaistheone1]

94. I am listening too...

Jane will give us the facts. She is brilliant.

[slipslidingaway]

96. If you agree with Jane Hamsher, most likely you disagree with Howard Dean...

but then agree with Sanders, Harkin and Brown who voted against this in committee.


Links...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6886323&mesg_id=6887863

"Chairman Emeritus of the DNC bolsters firm's national government affairs practice


WASHINGTON, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Howard Dean -- a nationally recognized political figure, presidential candidate and six term Governor -- has agreed to serve as an independent consultant exclusive to the government affairs practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. Governor Dean will provide guidance to clients, particularly in the areas of healthcare and alternative energy resources..."


"...The quest for influence is not always obvious.

Howard Dean, the former Democratic Party chairman, wrote an opinion piece this month in The Hill, an influential Capitol Hill newspaper, arguing that fewer than 12 years of monopoly rights for biotech companies’ products “would prematurely rob innovators of their intellectual property and . . . destroy incentives to develop new cures.’’

Dean failed to note in his editorial that he is an adviser to McKenna, Long & Aldridge, a global law firm that is advising the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the influential trade group...

But Dean said his editorial was part of McKenna’s rapid-fire response to an unexpected, eleventh-hour Senate health committee proposal (which biotech firms ultimately fought off).

“It was a huge scramble, all hands on deck,’’ Dean said..."

[LynneSin]

99. Once again everyone goes off the deep end but what else is new

FACT: Biologics is a new area and NOT specific to Breast Cancer. Anyone who thinks this is a personal attack on women clearly haven't read anything about Biologics yet. Hell I only read what I found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biologic). Diseases that could be positively impacted by this included rheumatod arthritis, Crohn's disease, Anemia caused by Chemotherapy along with Breast cancer.

FACT: Not everything is going to get into the Healthcare bill. Anyone of us has the capacity to go out there and have a hissyfit because our 1 or 2 favorite causes was not included. It was bound to happen.

FACT: Other treatments for these diseases are still covered. Geez, I thought we were denying women with Breast Cancer basic things like mammograms or treatment. Turns out we're just not including one form of treatment. The fact that "women should be upset" to me is upsetting because it takes a small part of the argument and somehow twists that logic to include a giant subset of people.

FACT: Just because it's not in the healthcare bill doesn't mean we can never ever visit this topic again. If anything, this is a new field like steam cell research which should probably be considered under it's own merits.

FACT: If we waited to get a healthcare passed that would make every single DUer happy, well it will never happen. In 2 days another hyped up thread will be pushed to the homepage that will overreach the topic and use very little logic to it's reasoning. And no, I'm not doubting biologics - just stating that a healthcare reform bill can be passed that doesn't included it. Biologics are something we can easily push for separately and overall the Healthcare reform bill will include provisions to take care of women using many other methods available.

FACT: I'l get about 20000 replies stating that I'm a "cheerleader" of some form and you know what - I don't give a rats ass. Sorry I actually read articles and formulate my own opinions instead of jumping on the "Let's get pissy over something we aren't even sure what it's all about but as long as I'm on that team no one will know the wiser" bandwagon.

There has been a bill floated out there sometime during the Bush regime that managed to die a horrible death. Why this has to be tacked on to Healthcare reform is beyond me. It's not like anything health related can never ever be discussed again after this vote. Personally I'd rather get this bill done and then work with a group of folks to help get biologics considered in another bill. One that will not be mired down by all the negativity.

[slipslidingaway]

101. The OP mentions other diseases in addition to breast cancer, also this is not...

something people are pushing to have included in the bill, it is something that is in the proposed bills.

So I'm wondering if you read the OP and the additional piece that Jane Hamsher wrote on the subject. This is not something that is new, it was put into both the House and Senate bills in committee.

:shrug:

[LynneSin]

102. I'm reading the entire thread

and the overall tone that HCR sold out this technology.

A few people get it - most don't.

I mean when I read things like how Women are being sold out by HCR - I take offense by it.

But that's just me.

[slipslidingaway]

103. Again this is not about something NOT being in the bill, it is about an amendment IN...

the bill... I'm not sure you get it.

Google data exclusivity amendment.

"FACT: Not everything is going to get into the Healthcare bill. Anyone of us has the capacity to go out there and have a hissyfit because our 1 or 2 favorite causes was not included. It was bound to happen."

[Doremus]

108. The more I learn about these bills, the more I feel like telling them to SHOVE IT.

I think the progressive caucus should refuse to vote for it/them.

I'm really starting to think that.

[ProSense]

111. Congresswoman Eshoo responds to Jane Hamsher

Congresswoman Eshoo responds to Jane Hamsher

[Orwellian_Ghost]

112. Bump

[johnaries]

114. I'm sorry, but Hamsher is WRONG! Read the damn amendment!

All it does is provide for the development of "biosimilars" to biologics just like the laws regarding the development of generic drugs. There currently is no pathway for the development of biosimilars.

Look specifically at the ANTI-EVERGREENING in Section 7, subparagraph C starting on page 10, line 23. It specifically exempts trivial modifications from changing the date of first lincensure, thereby eliminating "evergreening".

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:-6jVQkl49OAJ:energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090731/hr3200_eshoo_2.pdf+eshoo+amendment&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Now, I agree that 12 years seems like a long time, but it's the same as in the case of generics and it's definitely better than "never". I personally think the 12-year timeline in BOTH generics and biosimilars should be revisited. But this amendment itself is a step forward, NOT a step backward.

edit to add: Also, it's important to note that this was an amendment to HR3200. The new bill Pelosi introduced is HR3962. I don't see the amendment anywhere in HR3962. I would say that it is reasonable to assume that it would added. What we could do is demand that the amendment to HR3962 be changed to 7 years (as Obama has suggested) for both biosimilars and generics.

[avaistheone1]

118. Jane Hamsher responds and she is not WRONG.

Eshoo wigged out yesterday in the Hill and the Huffington Post and launches a bitter, personal attack in response to my article on her PhRMA-friendly legislation — and Nancy Pelosi’s daugher helps her promote it. Which surprising, I said I was “disappointed” in Pelosi because I thought she was just bowing to the will of the caucus, but I guess she’s endorsing Eshoo’s efforts. (I know Christine, she’s very cognizant of how this stuff reads and doesn’t do things like this in a vacuum).
I’ll have much more later, but in the mean time, I invite you to read the Pelosi-endorsed Eshoo melt-down and watch the video of these wonderful young students and compare.

As medical student Sha Ali says, the government is already paying money for the research and development of these biologics, so to make the health care system absorb enormous costs for drugs the public already has an interest in is deeply corrupt — and the cost in human life is completely immoral.

Eshoo’s demand for “data exclusivity” (patent monopoly) to protect “innovation” (blockbuster pharmaceutical profits) is wound around such a shameless pack of lies it’s amazing that it only cost drug companies $712,983 in campaign contributions. As the students say, this is a $71 billion boondoggle for PhRMA. They are paying Eshoo pennies on the dollar for the privilege of raking in enormous profits on government-sponsored research.

POP is joining with these wonderful students to help them fight Eshoo and Kay Hagan, women who are willing to impose a huge financial burden on the health care system and cut off access to the newest drugs that could save the lives of breast cancer survivors. These young people shouldn’t have their hands tied by such corrupt, protectionist legislation that puts corporate profits over access to health care for their patients.

http://firedoglake.com/




I support Jane Hamsher, and not the greedy pharmaceutical companies.


:kick:

[slipslidingaway]

119. Direct FDL link...

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/10/31/amsa-med-students-visit-anna-eshoos-office/

[mullard12ax7]

115. DOW 10000, Pretty pictures, Iraq War is Over, Let Torturers Go Free

These delusions brought to you by the superficial half-wits who've spent years watching TV and believing it.