Obama Fail Blog

Last week, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) declared that women in their 40s do not need mammograms. Days later, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended fewer cervical cancer screenings for women in their 20s and 30s.

The uproar from the American public was diffused when HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius told women to ignore the USPSTF's mammogram recommendations:

"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important lifesaving tool in the fight against breast cancer, and they still are today. Keep doing what you have been doing for years — talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you."

Source: LA Times

Sebelius is correct in her assertion that mammograms are an important lifesaving tool, but she says nothing about whether she agrees with the USPSTF's recommendations. She also doesn't say whether this and other cost-saving recommendations will influence her policies in the future. Keep in mind, once ObamaCare goes into effect, Sebelius will have the power to enact many far-reaching (and likely damaging) policies based on recommendations like this one.

Note the following exchange in this interview with Katie Couric:

Sebelius: They [The USPSTF] don't make policy, they won't make policy.
Couric: It really sounds like you are trying to distance yourself from them.

Score one for Katie Couric! She's absolutely correct - Sebelius is trying to distance both herself and the Obama administration from the USPSTF. Perhaps she is distancing herself because the USPSTF has direct links to Obama's unappointed healthcare rationing guru Ezekiel Emanuel. And if the public knew how closely Obamacare was tied to the new mammography recommendations, well, that just wouldn't be good for President Obama.

So how is Obama tied to the the USPSTF's mammography recommendations? Here's how:

Sebelius/HHS --> USPSTF --> AHRQ --> Dr. Carolyn Clancy --> FCCCE --> Ezekiel Emanuel --> President Obama

HHS, USPSTF & AHRQ

The first result in a Google search for "The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force" is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ahrq.gov). Clicking on that first link brings you to what appears to be the official page of the USPSTF. The website ahrq.gov is a subset of the Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS logo is prominently displayed on the top of the page.

Let's keep going...

According to the web page, the USPSTF was formed in 1984 and has been "sponsored" by the AHRQ since 1998. It appears that the USPSTF (list of directors here) operates as an arm of the AHRQ:

Public Law Section 915 mandates that AHRQ convene the USPSTF to conduct scientific evidence reviews of a broad array of clinical preventive services, develop recommendations for the health care community, and provide ongoing administrative, research, technical, and dissemination support.

Source: AHRQ.gov

So the new mammography recommendations were made by the USPSTF, which functions as an arm of the AHRQ.

Let's keep going...

AHRQ, Dr. Carolyn Clancy and the FCCCE

The director of the AHRQ is Dr. Carolyn Clancy, who was listed by Medical Devices Today as one of the most powerful members of The Federal Coordinating Committee on Comparative Effectiveness Research (FCCCE).

What on earth is the FCCCE? Well, you may not be familiar with it, since the committee was created in 2009.

Let's keep going...

The FCCCE

The FCCCE was CREATED by the Obama stimulus plan, as detailed by the an announcement on the HHS website:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced the members of the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the new Council will help coordinate research and guide investments in comparative effectiveness research funded by the Recovery Act.

Source: HHS.gov

Now, it doesn't take much of a leap to assume that the FCCCE would - at minimum - be sympathetic to Obama's proposed healthcare overhaul. In fact, the FCCCE goes a few steps beyond that and lays its cards on the table in the same press release:

“Comparative effectiveness research can improve care for all Americans and is an important element of President Obama’s health reform plan,” said HHS Spokeswoman Jenny Backus. “President Obama is committed to openness and transparency and the Coordinating Council will host open meetings and a listening session as it begins its important work.”

Source: HHS.gov

But that's not all!

Let's keep going...

Joining Dr. Clancy on the FCCCE board of directors is none other than the Rationer-in-Chief, Ezekiel Emanuel!

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD
Special Advisor for Health Policy
Office of Management and Budget

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, the Chair of the Clinical Center Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, is currently serving as a Special Advisor on Health Policy to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. After completing Amherst College, he received his M.Sc. from Oxford University in Biochemistry. He received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University. His dissertation received the Toppan Award for the finest political science dissertation of the year. After completing his internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital and his oncology fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he joined the faculty at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Emanuel was an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School before joining the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Emanuel has authored 3 books and co-edited 4. He developed The Medical Directive, a comprehensive living will that has been endorsed by Consumer Reports on Health, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He has published widely on the ethics of clinical research, health care reform, international research ethics, end of life care issues, euthanasia, the ethics of managed care, and the physician-patient relationship in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, and many other medical journals.

Source: HHS.gov