New debate on how to decide best health treatments

AP/Yahoo News, March 13, 2009

People's lives and plenty of money are at stake when it comes to determining which medical treatments work best, so some prominent health industry and patient advocacy groups are trying to reframe the debate over how such decisions are made in order to ensure their interests are protected. Spurred by $1.1 billion in the recent economic stimulus bill for "comparative effectiveness research," their coalition unveiled a new campaign with a prominent Democrat and disability rights advocate, former California Rep. Tony Coelho, as its spokesman.