March 12th, 2009

Reports the Associated Press via PennLive:

“…some prominent health industry and patient advocacy groups are trying to reframe the debate over how [to determine which medical treatments work best] to ensure their interests are protected.

Spurred by $1.1 billion in the recent economic stimulus bill for “comparative effectiveness research,” their coalition was unveiling a new campaign Thursday with a prominent Democrat and disability rights advocate, former California Rep. Tony Coelho, as its spokesman.

Coelho, who suffers from epilepsy and was a key sponsor of the Americans With Disabilities Act, said the issue comes down to whether disabled people and other patients would get the medical care they need.

“On this issue we need to be at the table,” Coelho said in an interview with The Associated Press prior to Thursday’s announcement of his new role. “Comparative analysis is wonderful, if it’s done appropriately.”

Coelho’s concerns about what could happen if it’s not done right line up with those articulated most loudly until now by Republicans and conservative commentators — that “comparative effectiveness” could morph into “cost effectiveness,” with bean-counting government bureaucrats refusing treatments to patients who need them.

It’s a big concern for drug and biotech companies too since they could lose out if a treatment they’ve developed is found to be less effective than a competitor’s. But a drug company’s bottom line isn’t likely to draw as much public sympathy as a disabled person’s needs.

That makes Coelho a good face for the Partnership to Improve Patient Care, which formed as the issue began to surface last fall and is funded by groups including the Easter Seals, Friends of Cancer Research, the Alliance for Aging Research, the Advanced Medical Technology Association and the powerful pharmaceutical and biotech industry lobbies.

Read more about the coalition and its campaign at PennLive.