Hillary Clinton has prorposed the creation of a ’Best Practices’ Institute, to be funded by both the private and public sectors. This insititute would incorporate some of the principles ot the North Carolina Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP). This institute would gather information from all areas of medicine and compare the effectiveness of treatments rendered; including prescription drugs, other pharmaceuticals, treatments, and medical devices. This research will facilitate the development of quality and outcomes measures.

As a Rare Cancer Advocate, I know a lot about this. When I was diagnosed in 1998 with a very rare breast cancer, I did what I normally do - research and get the opinions of various doctors to try to formulate a consistent treatment plan. All I got was conflicting opinions with no real evidence that the treatments being offered would work. Now, you might think that I am the oddball case, but through my years of advocating; I have found out this is true for many patients with various diseases. If I had undergone treatments that were ineffective, I would not be here today!

An institute and information gathering point, of this nature, could not only save lives; it could also reduce our country’s health care costs, drastically. I have seen so many people, in my years of advocacy, who were told to undergo a treatment only to find out that there are research documents that prove this treatment does not work. The treatment outcome, at best, would be an outlay of hundreds to thousands of dollars for an ineffective treatment; at worst, death!

 Take Care,  Sharon

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