Category: National Board of Physicians and Surgeons

Regulate THIS!

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Pharmaceutical drugs cost too much. The new ones are always so expensive.

Hence, we need more regulations. And, the government should impose them. Set price limits. Cap drug-maker profits. This will make it better for all of us. The paternalism of our government should be the strongest when we are ill. Because we may need that medicine.

The government should regulate things more so we can get it cheaper.

Case in point. One new medication now available to cure a chronic liver disease costs about $84,000 per treatment course. The actual production cost for the company that makes the drug is supposedly around $100. Granted, the company paid $11 billion for the patent rights, and then took a risk that the drug would even get through Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval. But, ultimately it did, and this year alone, the company will likely receive over $17 billion in revenue from it.

Wow. Then, they likely will make more profits next year.

And, the year after.

Why isn’t the government protecting us from such pharmaceutical price gouging? Where are the regulations? We need them.

Here’s the bitter irony.

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National Board of Physicians and Surgeons: Rising to the Occasion

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Something is new this year, a silver lining among all the madness in healthcare right now. Practicing physicians finally have a choice. We have a voice again in medicine, and you will know who to thank for it in a minute.

A whole lot of fishy stuff has been going on for quite a while regarding physician board certification in this country, and it’s only fitting that the Ivory Tower is starting to sway under pressure. A medical license in the United States is granted by law, but board certifications are received from independent organizations– many of which now appear to be glaringly similar to country clubs with odd requirements and pricey dues.

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), essentially a subsidiary of the much larger American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), is one group in recent years that has generated astronomical revenues through certifying physicians. I’ve previously explained how certification might be the universal scam, but just know that more than 22,000 physicians have now signed a petition challenging ABIM’s practices.

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We Live in a World of Mostly Bogus Certifications

“Certification is the universal scam.”

I read that in one of James Altucher’s books. If you don’t know who he is, don’t worry, I didn’t know his name twelve months ago either. As it turns out, the Google search phrase that is most likely to take you to his website is, “I want to die.” When I learned this, I thought he must be a physician counseling those with severe depression. As it turns out, he’s not a physician at all. But, he’s helped a lot of people. In fact, you should go read a post on his webpage after finishing this one.

Regardless, Altucher is right.  Certification is the universal scam, at least in medicine right now.

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