President Bush

The potential for an avian flu pandemic remains a major national story. President Bush today meets with pharma company representatives to discuss ways to increase production. Unconfirmed reports suggest the administration is making plans to raise the nation's stockpile of Tamiflu from 12 million doses to 81 million doses. Critics say the move comes too late as other countries have already placed major orders with Roche, the antiviral's manufacturer. According to some estimates, the …

How effective would the army be at stopping an avian flu pandemic? Probably not as effective as good vaccines and adequate advancing planning, critics are saying. In a speech Tuesday, President Bush suggested that the military could be used to quarantine areas of the country in the event of a major pandemic. The unexpected comments have drawn major media play. Critics say the plan is a ploy to gain broader powers for the military to take the lead in responding to major public health …

In the event of a major avian flu pandemic, the US military could be used to quarantine parts of the country hard hit by the disease. In his press conference this morning, President Bush said that the lessons of Hurricane Katrina support giving the armed forces the legal authority to respond quickly to emerging healthcare threats to avoid a repeat of past disasters. The president also said his administration has made establishing a stockpile of drugs to fight a possible outbreak a top priority. Transcript

President Bush made visits to Rancho Cucamonga, California, and El Mirage, Arizona, to talk up the Medicare prescription drug plan on Monday. In his comments Bush acknowledged that the details of the benefit may be difficult for some seniors to absorb, but he said that the savings the program enables make it worth the trouble. The President said children with elderly parents have an obligation to help their parents understand and sign up for the plan. Enrollment for the benefit begins …

This was the week that even President Bush noticed that healthcare costs have been a drag on the economy. At the moment what passes for health policy in the US is a combination of a half-hearted expansion of Medicaid programs in the states, a complex and confusing drug benefit for seniors, and the steady decline in employer-based health insurance, the source for coverage for most …

On Friday, President Bush signed into law legislation designed to encourage hospitals, doctors and other healthcare providers to report medical errors. Supporters say the legislation will help improve of the quality of the US healthcare system by highlighting potentially dangerous trends. Crucially, the legislation does not require that hospitals report mistakes and also guarantees that facilities will remain anonymous -- two stipulations which critics say are likely to hurt its …

Congress passed legislation on Wednesday which would establish a national system for reporting medical errors. Critics of the health care system have argued for years that mistakes claim thousands of lives every year. One well-known estimate by the Institute of Medicine suggests that nearly 100,000 people die annually as a result of mistakes at hospitals. The law is supported by both the AMA and the AHA, and, as a consequence, it stops short of the mandatory reporting requirement that …

Over the weekend, President Bush responded to news that Korean researchers had achieved a breakthrough in stem cell research. The President promised to veto any stem cell legislation that seeks to legitimate human cloning. That sets the stage for a battle on Tuesday in Washington between proponents of a bill which would authorize research on embryonic stem cell lines and an alternative bill which would allow work to be done on samples taken from umbilical cord blood …