Iraq War Leaves Medical Pilots in the Dark

The war in Iraq is creating a shortage at home -- of night vision goggles.

That's hurting pilots who fly medical helicopters on the homefront. The NTSB has encouraged the goggles' use since 2006. But most are going to the front in Iraq and only about 25% of the medical choppers in the States have them.

Since 2006, 5 medical choppers have crashed, killing 16 people, in incidents investigators blamed on not having the night vision goggles on board. (AP)

From the Government's Brilliant Idea Department

The government that gave us $800 hammers and a bridge to nowhere has cooked up an equally great plan for taking care of troops with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) -- put the recovering troops next to a firing range!

From the Washington Post:

Across the street from their assigned housing, about 200 yards away, are some of the Army infantry's main firing ranges, and day and night, several days each week, barrages from rifles and machine guns echo around [Army SGT Jonathan] Strickland's building. The noise makes the wounded cringe, startle in their formations, and stay awake and on edge, according to several soldiers interviewed at the barracks last month. The gunfire recently sent one soldier to the emergency room with an anxiety attack, they said.

How loud is all that shooting across the way?

Apparently loud enough to cause deafness among the brass.

Complaints from wounded warriors have fallen on so many deaf ears up the chain of command that a family member turned to the Washington Post for help. Remember the Post -- the paper that called attention to inattention at Walter Reed? (WaPo)

Political Pressure Blunted Health Campaign

Pressure from the baby formula lobby forced the Department of Health and Human Services to tone down a $30 million campaign touting the health benefits of breast feeding.

The lobby hired former Republican National Committee Chairman Clayton Yeutter and former FDA regulator Joseph Lefitt to blunt the rather blunt campaign (click on the Washington Post graphic to see just how graphic the campaign had planned to be -- and how it was softened to images of ice cream and dandilions).

Research showed a graphic campaign warning mothers of health problems breastfeeding prevented would be the most effective. The campaign was laid out by career public affairs specialists. But political appointees softened the campaign shortly after the lobbying effort started. (WaPo)

Cigar Tax

Washington is considering a 20,000% tax hike on cigars. That's ten-bucks a stogie -- over and above what you already pay for a premimum smoke.

U.S. cigar makers worry the hike could put them out of business -- and no one's sue if the guy who likes the occassional smoke is going to slap down $20 or more for a cigar -- when he could get a couple of fifths of bourbon for the same price and drown his misery over high cigar prices.

Democrats in Congress want an extra $35-50-billion for state children's health insurance. Cigarette taxes would jump to $1 even -- up 35-cents over current federal taxes. Cigars currently have a 5-cents per cigar tax. But they'd see a 53% hike -- and one plan in the Senate caps the tax hike at $10 per stogie.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But to Washington everything is something waiting to be taxed. (tampabay.com)

Showtime -- Lobbyists Called on the Red Carpet

Health care lobbyists got a public invitation to the DC screening of Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko."

Mr Moore took out an ad in the Washington Post listing scores of health care lobbyists by name and inviting them to show up for the showing.

Think Progress has some of their reviews already -- even though none have seen the film critical of America's health care system.

Cheney's Batteries Run Low

Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo surgery this summer to replace the battery in his pacemaker. The entire, implanted device has to be replaced to replace the battery.

Mr Cheney recieved a check up Friday -- revealing no new blockages in his heart. He's had four heart attcks and quadruple bypass surgery in the past. Mr Cheney has also had three other heart related surgeries -- including the one to originally implant the pacemaker. (OC Register)

HPV Shots Shot Down

The Texas legislature has shot down mandatory HPV shots for women.

The vaccine can prevent HPV, a leading cause of cervical cancer. Gov Rick Perry (R-TX) wanted the shots required for all sixth-grade girls before they could attend public schools.

Just a couple of problems.

First, HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and conservatives argued that the shots -- making girls immune to one STD -- would also make them easy, more willing to have pre-marital sex.

Second, Merck -- the vaccine's maker -- flooded Texas campaign committees with cash the same day Gov Perry's office began it's blitz to make the shots mandatory. Gov Perry picked up a $5,000 donation. Merck split another five-grand among eight state legislators.

Tough Pill to Swallow

The Senate's voted 49-40 to block you from buying cheaper prescriptions from Canada or other countries.

Big Pharma is keeping American prescription prices the highest in the world -- for drugs often made on the same assembly lines as those sold in other countries. From the AP:

Overseas, drugs can cost two-thirds less than they do in the United States, where prices for brand-name drugs are among the highest in the world. In many industrialized countries, prices are lower because they are either controlled or partially controlled by government regulation.

The Congressional Budget Office says allowing imports would save about $40 billion over 10 years. And it also worried about other countries banning exports to protect their supplies of prescription drugs. (AP)

Tackling Health Care & Gas Prices

For the American family, no rising prices have been pinching pocketbooks as much as health care and energy costs.

With gasoline prices breaking the all-time high, 1981 record this weekend, Sen Barak Obama (D-IL) found a way to combine the two issues into a single one for his White House campaign. From the AP:

"[Sen] Obama said his plan encourages domestic automakers to make fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles by giving them health care assistance for retirees. Federal financial assistance would cover 10% - up to $7 billion - of automakers' annual legacy health care costs through 2017, under Obama's plan, which would require automakers to invest at least half of their health care savings into technology to produce fuel-efficient cars."

Financial incentives to help with health care costs and fuel efficient cars. It's a vision for America's future -- where we're driven to the emergency room in a hybrid ambulance getting 50 miles to the gallon. (AP)

Who's Running the Asylum?

Prescription drug prices in the US are the highest in the world. Same drugs sold in other countries are far cheaper -- but it's illegal to buy them overseas.

60 Minutes explores how an army of pharmaceutical company lobbyists, armed with $100 million a year, got a bill through Congress to keep prescription drug prices high in this country.

Part of the strategy -- lobbyists, not Congress members, wrote the bill. Congress just rubber-stamped the 1,000 page plan -- during a 3:00 am vote. Like anyone would be watching C-SPAN then. (CBS)

Ban on Smoking in Cars with Kids

No one thought it'd go anywhere when Arkansas state Rep Bob Mathis (D) introduced a bill last year that would ban smoking in cars with kids.

It passed. And then Gov Mike Huckabee (R-AR) signed it into law.

Louisiana became the second state to adopt the ban.

Now, Stateline.org counts at least 14 more states following the lead. (Stateline.org)

Cheney NOT Checking in to Walter Reed

Vice President Dick Cheney is being treated for a blood clot in his leg. The condition can allow the clot to break loose and cause a heart attack. It's often associated with extensive travel, where people don't get to stretch their legs. The Vice President just returned from a 25,000 mile trip.

In case you're wondering, Mr Cheney is being treated by a doctor at George Washington University. He won't be checking into Walter Reed. (SFGate)