"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Screens-R-Us: The March of Dimes is pushing to screen every newborn for 30 rare diseases in all fifty states. According to the article, the tests only cost about $50, a drop in the bucket compared to the overall hospital bill for a newborn baby. The catch is, the machine to run the tests costs close to half a million dollars.
States already test for hidden diseases in newborns, notably phenylketonuria and hypothyroidism, although the number of tests done depends on the state. (For a list of what tests your state does, see Genes-R-Us.) These are the
heel stick blood draws that every newborn gets after the first twenty-four hours of life. The tests do save lives, no doubt about it. posted by Sydney on
9/17/2004 09:17:00 PM
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