More on healthcare

At last check, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is not a doctor. He is a smart guy, a Rhodes Scholar and such. Nevertheless, he says that the FDA's decision not to approve Avastin as a treatment for late-stage breast cancer is the beginning of death panels.

"I fear this is the beginning of a slippery slope leading to more and more rationing under the government takeover of health care that is being forced on the American people."
via US breast cancer drug decision 'marks start of death panels' - Telegraph

Never mind that a study of Avastin was suspended last year because patients in the trial were developing congestive heart failure at a rate too high to be acceptable. (Roche Says Avastin Cancer Study Enrollment Suspended (Update2) - Bloomberg.). The drug's manufacturer, though, did say that the occurrence of congestive heart failure is "consistent with what we’ve seen in previously reported rates for Avastin and the drug’s U.S. prescribing information."
Also, in a bit of subtlety regarding the drug's benefit, we learn that while the amount of time that breast cancer does not worsen is increased with the addition of Avastin to the chemotherapy regimen (Roche's Avastin helps slow breast cancer in study | Reuters.),  the overall time until the patient dies is not improved.

The original study that supported Avastin's approval showed adding the drug to paclitaxel added 5½ months to median progression-free survival. The new studies show a smaller impact on progression-free survival of less than a month to 2.9 months depending on the treatment group. The studies showed more side effects among women being treated with Avastin. None of the studies showed a survival benefit in favor of Avastin. The panel unanimously said the follow-up studies didn't confirm the clinical benefit seen in the original study.
via FDA Panel Says Avastin's Breast Cancer Indication Should Be Removed - WSJ.com

So, the FDA is removing its recommendation that Avastin no longer be used off-label because a) it doesn't improve patient survival rates even if it does slow the progression of the disease and b) the side effects put the patient at much greater risk than the disease it purports to treat.
All this because President Obama wasn't born in America.