• Current H1N1 Flu: Situation Update From CDC
• Panel Recommends Annual Flu Vaccinations for All
• FDA Approves Pneumococcal Disease Vaccine with Broader Protection
• Nannies who get flu shots may have an edge in the job market
• Add swine flu to regular vaccine for next year, WHO tells vaccine makers, pandemic not over
• Fighting Swine Flu Fatigue With Clever Marketing
• 1 in 5 Americans Had H1N1 Swine Flu
• The Cost of Failure to Enact Health Reform
• Ranking 37th — Measuring the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System
• Walgreens to buy rival drugstore Duane Reade for $1.1 Billion

In all honesty I didn't think I'd be reading much more about whole Swine Flu "thing" let alone writing about it once the new year began. As far as I was concerned it was over for me this year. The drug companies made their money, the government got to see just how far they could push the police state and the intrusion on civil liberties and a few million people got their vaccination against the boogeyman. 

But I was wrong.

What's that old saying about fooling some of the people some of the time etc...take a look at some of these recent headlines.

• Big pharma probed for ‘false’ swine flu pandemic
• Council of Europe accuses several major drug companies of 'false pandemic' to sell vaccine  
• WHO Scientist says Swine Flu was Completely Exaggerated 
• Drug companies manipulated the World Health Organisation
• Swine Flu Didn't Fly 
• Swine flu: it’s a goldmine for drug companies
• Sanofi's Profit Rises on Swine Flu Vaccine sales
• Just Get Your Damn Vaccine!
• Still haven't got your swine flu shot? There's plenty left
  

 
U.S. Health Care By the Numbers 

 

—        $2 Trillion Dollars a Year Spent on Health Care (The size of the economy of China)

—        Taxpayers pay for 44% of this

—        16-20% of GDP

—        GM $5.2 Billion on Health Care ($1600 for every car) 

—        US Consumers more dissatisfied with their care than other nations

—        ~50 million uninsured

—        34% of Americans believe medicine can cure any illness as long as people have access to advanced technology and treatment

—        $6,100 per person spent on health care

—        Health premiums have risen 98% since 2000

—        Medical bills are leading cause of bankruptcy in US

—        1/5 of Americans have medical debt they are paying off

—        70% is spent on Chronic illness

—        Cardio and Stroke--$210 billion

—        Cancer--$192 billion

—        Diabetes--$92 billion

—        Obesity-Related--$75 billion

—        Arthritis--$22 billion

—        $1 out of every $6 goes to health care.  It is estimated to grow to $1 out of $5 by 2015.

—        Will grow to $12,320 per person in 2015, almost double the 2005 figure of $6,683.

—        May grow to $4 trillion in ten years.

—        Medicare hospital insurance will become insolvent by 2019.

—        5% of sickest Medicare beneficiaries account for 47% of Medicare expenditures

—        During the last six months of life, the average number of doctor visits is 41.5 in New Jersey; 17 in Utah.

—        For each illness studied, higher mortality rates were found in the regions with the most intense care.

—        According to the WHO, in terms of life expectancy, the United States lags far behind most other comparable nations.

—        US ranks 28th in infant mortality among 39 industrialized nations.

—        Compared with 30 other countries, the United States has the highest incidence of all cancers

—        The United States ranks 37th according to WHO’s assessment of health care systems throughout the world.

—        Americans receive on 55% of needed care (RAND)

—        The Institute of Medicine states medical errors account for at least 100,000 deaths per year.

—        Others such as Null et al have been more critical asserting that:

—        The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million.

—        The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million.

—        The total number of iatrogenic deaths is 783,936 annually

—        Leape of Harvard estimated that in the United States 180,000 people die each year as a result of iatrogenic injury. The equivalent of three jumbo-jet crashes every two days.

—        195,000 people die each year in hospitals due to preventable errors

—        Other Estimates range from 225,000 – 284,000 deaths

—        One million error related non fatal injuries yearly

—        Negligence or errors in diagnosis account for 30-40% of malpractice payments   

—        18 types of errors account for 32,600 deaths and $9.3 Billion in extra costs

—        Preventable drug related errors in OP’s cost $77 billion yearly

—        Doctors spend ½ - 1/3 of time on paperwork

—        Admin costs are 30% of all health care spending

—        According to Public Citizen, medical malpractice kills approximately 80,000 people per year.

—        Public Citizen stated that if this number is correct than medical malpractice is the 3rd leading cause of preventable death in the United States just behind cigarettes and alcohol.

—        Only about 15% of medical interventions are supported by scientific evidence…This is partly because only 1% of the articles in medical journals are scientifically sound

White House Partners with Drug Companies

Obama's Biggest Health Reform Blunder

Big Pharma and the White House

Deal in Hand, Pharma Readies Ad’s Supporting Health Reform

White House declines to disclose visits by health industry executives

Congress Should Reject deal with Big Pharma

Obama is Big Pharma’s Sugar Daddy

White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost

Drug Industry to Run Ads Favoring White House Plan

Hyperkyphosis in Women Predicts an Increased Risk for Death

Music May Benefit Premature Babies

Hospitals Fight Charity Care

Gardasil for Older Women Now? Another Merck Funded Study

All Pregnant Women Should be Screened for Syphillis

New Guidelines Urge Less Weight Gain in Pregnancy

New Evidence Of Hormone Therapy Causing Breast Cancer

Screening for Maternal Depression at Well Baby Visits

Nicotine Replacement During Pregnancy – Some Bad News

Issues in Pediatric Immunization

Swine Flu Influenza Center

Is Vaccine Refusal Worth The Risk?

Elective Caesarean Consistently Associated With Neonatal Mortality

Do Mothers Who Are Nurses Intend to Give Their Daughters Gardasil?

Parental Refusal of Pertussis Vaccination Associated With an Increased Risk of Pertussis Infection in Children

White patients received higher levels of imaging than black patients and other races

Taxing Soda to Combat Obesity

The Universal Flu Shot - The Holy Grail of Vaccines

The Allure of New Drugs

Reorganizational Healing

Police Raid on Family's Home and Organic Food Co-Op

Activity May Decrease Length of Labor

The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System

The 14 Studies

Merck Publishes Fake Journal

Conflict of Interest in Medicine

Effect of social networks on 10 year survival

Waist Size Strongly Tied to Heart Disease

Big Pharma Distorts Science to Get FDA Approval for Dangerous Drugs

Earlier Puberty in Teenage Girls

Oprah’s “America’s Doctor” is a Drug Pusher

Epilepsy Drug Linked to Babies' Lower IQ

Fast-food restaurants near schools feed obesity

Doctors Opting Out of Medicare

Harvard Psychiatrist Made Promises to Drugmaker About Drugs for Kids

Spinal Shocks Ease Parkinson’s in Mice

Genes Show Limited Value in Predicting Diseases

Genomewide Association Studies and Human Disease

Common Genetic Variation and Human Traits

Genetic Risk Prediction — Are We There Yet?