Must reads

• A July 29, 2013 The Hill opinion piece by Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, urged policymakers to support research and innovation in the medical field. According to Grealy, "Early innovations, made available to patients, have led us to the point where there are very promising candidates to vaccinate against or cure the disease.  To achieve tangible, improved outcomes for patients, we have to allow the wheels of progress to turn. A cost-efficient, quality-driven healthcare system won't be achieved by curbing innovation to save money in the short term.  We need to encourage the research and development that will lead to more exciting and beneficial breakthroughs.  Diseases like Alzheimer's are, unquestionably, going to cost our society in both lives and resources.  The medical innovation decisions we make today will determine how extensive those costs will be."
• A July 29, 2013 New York Times article reported on concerns over dementia screenings. According to the article, "But the push for ever-earlier dementia screening raises troubling questions for patients and their families. When the diagnosis is early Alzheimer’s disease, the medical profession has little treatment to offer. This month, researchers at an Alzheimer’s Association conference in Boston urged policy makers to think hard before recommending wider dementia screening, saying studies have found no evidence that early detection improves outcomes."
• A July 28, 2013 Great Falls Tribune opinion piece by John Edward Porter, chairman of Research!America’s board, highlighted how sequestration undermines medical innovation. According to Porter, "How will we ever find cures for Alzheimer’s, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses under this scenario? If we continue on this trajectory, patients and their families will bear the brunt of these heavy-handed spending cuts…This is not the time to allow our nation’s research enterprise to falter. We must persuade Congress to put the interests of the people and the welfare of our nation above ideology. Let’s insist that both parties tackle tax and entitlement reform and, once again, make investments in science, technology, innovation and research among our nation’s highest priorities. It’s not too late to change course."