Heard someone today mention that despite being the best in the world, our health care system is the most expensive, financially wasteful, and inefficient in the world. This is one reason.

In his lunchtime keynote Tuesday at the mHealth Summit, [Gary] Shapiro, who oversees the world’s largest innovation tradeshow, the International CES, said innovation is being stifled in healthcare by an overbearing legal system, a financial framework that rewards physicians for avoiding new technology and choosing more expensive procedures, and a testing and approval process that can’t keep up with technology.

“Our healthcare system is based on a system that was (established) before the Internet,” he lamented.
[…]
His suggestions? Change the legal system to what he called “loser-pays litigation,” get rid of the stifling patent system – in particular, patent trolls – stop incentivizing doctors for choosing more expensive drugs, amend Obamacare to eliminate new taxes on healthcare innovations, speedup the FDA’s review process, and change the nation’s immigration policy from a lottery-based system to one that rewards creative minds.



  1. jbenson2 says:

    A more appropriate title would be:

    US Health Care Improvements Hampered by the Government.

    • noname says:

      Really, based on what? What your rich white GOP donors tell you?

      Practically every wealthy nation in the world has a government managed health care system, yet you say our current mixed system of care is too governmental!

      Classic retardican logic that even the public knows is stupid. At last count Republican lost the presidency, lost 6 seats in the house and lost 2 seats in the Senate!

      • 9 out of 10 doctors says:

        Listen to me:

        The government sucks at everything it touches. It’s too big, too complex, too corrupt, too disingenuous, too self-serving, too controlling, and too pompous.

        It needs a good warm enema.

  2. deowll says:

    Neither party is apt to go for this but according to Howard Dean the Dems can least afford to go for this because the trial lawyers are buying them off.

    Don’t ask me why he was honest about this. He quickly back tracked later.

  3. mainecat says:

    There is no point to retirement savings. No matter how much you invest or save, the moment you develop any condition, your investments or savings, no matter how much, will disappear and you will be on medicare. Might as well blow it while you’re healthy. Oh, give me all sorts of comments about managing those investments, but once you’re ill, you are in no position to manage those.

    • ECA says:

      Ask anyone over the past 40 years, on Social security..
      it used to have 5 companies, to say YES to get anything done..and ANY 1, could say NO..
      THAT ALONE cost social sec TONS of money..
      The original Ob-care was a 1-1 system..the Doctors and Hospitals went DIRECT to Medicare.
      NOW, after REPS and Congress, its 1 medical corp THEN medicare..

  4. ECA says:

    FIX THE FDA..
    MAKE them do the JOB they are hired for..and STICK to the requirements..
    Look at all the drug recalls in the last 10 years…ITS STUPID..
    Look at ALL drug tests, not JUST selected ones..
    10 tests, and the corps shows the 3 that worked, not the 7 that failed..

    • noname says:

      Amen,
      “A disproportionate number of devices recalled because of links to serious health problems or deaths, including external defibrillators and insulin infusion pumps, had been approved under the less rigorous process, according to a separate study published this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine.”

  5. Gildersleeve says:

    US Health Care Improvements Hampered by Lawyers
    US Economy Hampered by Lawyers in Congress
    US Citizens Privacy Protections Hampered by Lawyers
    Repeal of Sarbane-Oxley laws – hampered by lawyers
    snxxxxx……..

  6. anonycoward says:

    You know, this used to be called TORT REFORM, but nobody wanted it a few years ago. What changed?

    • noname says:

      I have mixed feelings about Tort reform. A brother-in-law lost his job because of a botched broken leg surgery to secure the bone. He is now virtually unemployable because of the time lost from work and now having a significant disability with pain.

      He went from a high wage earning manager with high prospects to a literally a broken man. At a restaurant, with my sister paying the bill; he just broke down and started crying.

      The doctor used an outdated, medically discontinued and discredited practice! This resulted in pain and deformity. Because of the state limits on malpractice damages, he got a pittance for a lifetime of unemployment! He now can’t support his family, is unemployable and too young for S.S. (S.S. is making it almost impossible for him to qualify for Social Security disability benefits).

      From gainful employment to prospects of several decades of unemployment with a family to support, a multimillion dollar pay out is not unreasonable!

      • MikeN says:

        Multimillion dollar payout is not unreasonable?
        Because a surgery did not go well, and the doctor is not as well trained as you like. It is thinking like that that drives up health care costs.

        I think we should have more less trained doctors. We have this in other countries, but in the US apparently it is only acceptable in childbirth.

        • noname says:

          Definitely a bona fide Tea bag nut job retardican statement:

          “I think we should have more less trained doctors.”

          Wow, then not to be outdone, you follow it with apparently your childbirth experience:

          “We have this in other countries, but in the US apparently it is only acceptable in childbirth.”

          Maybe you should go back to hiding under your third world rock!

          • MikeN says:

            So you think midwives should be banned?

          • noname says:

            Looks like “midwives” delivered you just fine! Did you drop out in the barrens of some 3rd world foreign country?

            After reading your post(s), it’s hard to understand why the vast majority of people prefer well trained American doctors for their new bundle of joy!

        • tcc3 says:

          Its funny how “other countries” are an acceptable yardstick when its convenient to your point. Other countries also have socialized medicine that costs less and has better results.

      • Mule Acid says:

        Republicans talk about accountability.
        But TORT reform is about eliminating accountability from all corporations.

        Watch “Hot Coffee” the movie.

        TORT reform is about taking away our last rights to fight back against corrupt corporations and incompetent doctors.

  7. Captain Obvious says:

    “Heard someone today mention that despite being the best in the world…”

    You got a criteria for that big fella?

  8. Mr Diesel says:

    Funny, if ours is the best health care in the world why is it so many people travel to Costa Rica, Thailand and India to have their ailments treated. Could it be that it is less expensive AND better care?

  9. Dallas says:

    Hampered by lawyers and drug lobbyists.? That’s what teapublicans want – profit and the associated corruption that is available in the current state of of our healthcare system.

    Actually, it’s NOT a healthcare system. It’s an illness care system. There is MUCH more money in treating the sheeple for illnesses than preventing them from getting them.

    Why do teapublicans hate healthy people?

    • MikeN says:

      Haha. It’s liberals who hate healthy people. They want to force them to buy health insurance more expensive than what they need. This is not just recently, but at least as far back as 1996, when they were complaining about Republican health care plans benefiting ‘the healthiest and wealthiest’.

  10. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    Right, “Let’s blame the lawyers.”, we don’t get sick or need medical care. What we really need is health care for corporations. They are people too.

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