New Study Reveals Obamacare’s Threats to the Economy — And Medicine as We Know it

Kathryn Nix / June 03, 2011

Moving into the 21st century, the practice of medicine is on the cusp of exciting new territory. Advances in medical and pharmaceutical research, particularly in personalized medicine, promise new cures to diseases that affect millions of Americans.

Now more than ever, Washington should get out of the way of innovation and strive to encourage investment in medical technology. Sadly, the reverse is true. Stringent FDA regulations and nightmare approval processes are sending investors’ dollars to other areas of the economy and forcing medical breakthroughs overseas.

Obamacare changes could cause even further damage. The new law creates the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to advance and fund research comparative effectiveness research (CER).

CER can be beneficial if used solely to inform doctors and patients to guide decision-making. However, the new law lays the groundwork for bureaucrats to use CER in Medicare to make coverage decisions and otherwise compel physicians to treat patients not according to what is best for the individual but according to what the evidence shows is best in most cases. (more…)