Republican Congressman John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and US Representative from the 8th District of Ohio, makes a case for the repeal of Obamacare. Boehner is an important figure on Capitol Hill, since he is second in line to the Presidency behind the Vice President, and is an influential voice in Washington. Congressman Boehner gives several reasons for repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: that it is unconstitutional, too complex to implement, unreasonable for small businesses to administrate, and that it actually increases costs. Senator Boehner credits himself and the Republicans with a recent trail of legislative actions which have successfully defunded and dismantled several bureaucratic parts of Obamacare. However, there is no raw data or statistics in the blog showing that Obamacare will raise health care costs nor is there a presentation of an alternative health care plan which is easier to administrate and less costly.
This composite blog is a collection of mini blogs from journalists from the Wall Street Journal. It successfully raises our consciousness about the hottest topics in health, such as the perils of the marketing of prescription medications online, or the use of hormone therapy after menopause. The mini blogs are informative, but sometimes lack content. For example, in a blog by Robert Lee Hotz, the science writer for the Wall Street Journal, there is a hyperlink to the actual FDA warning, but no comment from Mr. Hotz on the depth or severity of the problem of online prescription drug sales. The FDA warns of the online sale of phony pills of the prescription drug Adderal, commonly prescribed to teenagers for treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and daytime sleepiness. The FDA says that the pills are being sold on “rogue websites.” The fake pills have not shown any harm, but obviously will not treat the patients. I was left wondering about the demographics of persons buying prescription drugs on “rogue websites,” the names of the sites, and how this problem is being addressed.
Two other blogs make an effort to shed light on the everlasting controversy over hormone replacement therapy (“HRT”) for women. One blog highlights that HRT is not recommended for post-menopausal women, while another blog from another WSJ staffer highlights that HRT may benefit women at the onset of menopause. If this is the most current and correct view, this would be an unfortunate truth for many women who are past menopause seeking effective therapy. I would welcome a uniform and consistent opinion from the experts on timing of HRT.
The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans is the first time ever that HHS has published an official statement on the amount and nature of exercise needed for Americans. The publication, although sometimes overly general in nature, has a noteworthy theme: that physical exercise benefits all age groups, ethnicities and special populations, including people with disabilities. This is a small step toward development of a national initiative toward better health prevention and awareness. The blog includes a wide variety of topics on physical exercise which is easy to follow and comprehend. Americans are constantly flooded with conflicting opinions about the type, level and amount of exercise recommended for a healthy lifestyle. The result has been a confusing conglomeration of opinions from physicians, personal trainers, and nutritionists, who disagree on many levels. This governmental blog will hopefully identify consensus among the experts, and evolve into a more specific catalogue of age and disability specific work out regimens and philosophies. Since chronic disease management is a key concern for the immediate future of Americans, especially the aging baby boomer population, the blog could provide more leadership on exercise suggestions for diabetes, heart disease and other common chronic illnesses.
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