Sunday, September 12, 2010

On Grapefruit and Lemons

Despite its tart reputation, grapefruit may indeed be the sweetest of all (metaphorically speaking):

"New joint research by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard University’s Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has demonstrated the mechanism by which a single compound in grapefruit controls fat and glucose metabolism ... causing the liver to break down fatty acids. In fact, the compound seems to mimic the actions of other drugs, such as the lipid-lowering fenofibrate and the anti-diabetic rosiglitazone."

In short, a team of American and Israeli scientists my have found a naturally-occurring treatment for diabetes. Not only that, but it may also help lower cholesterol. Dig in!

Some doctors, on the other hand, are more like lemons:

"San Diego anesthesiologist Adam Dorin, founder of PhysiciansAgainstObamacare.org, writes in the fall issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons that the AMA is more interested in its prestige and financial contracts than physicians' interests."

Well, dunh!

As we noted months ago:

"[G]rowing opposition (to ObamaCare©) makes the actions of the AMA, which represents only 17% of the doctors in the U.S., look very bad."

The good news is that fewer than 1 in 5 doctors actually belong to the American Medical Association. The bad news, of course, is that it's the "go-to" source for the media in its effort to drive the ObamaCare© narrative. As Dr Dorin notes, "the AMA makes $70 million to $100 million a year from its exclusive contract with the federal government for the sale of coding books that physicians use to bill insurance." This is the "billing bible" that health care providers use to determine pricing and reimbursement. By controlling this key tool, the AMA is in a unique position to profit from the 3rd party reimbursement system (aka insurance and Medicare).

It's enough to give one a headache.
blog comments powered by Disqus