SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has released another cancer progress report/wish list:
Vice President Joe Biden today released his vision for doubling progress against cancer over 5 years. It includes numerous policy recommendations and a laundry list of projects by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other federal agencies that would require additional funding. Biden and his wife, Jill, have met with thousands of experts and patient advocates, they explain in a 17-page strategic plan submitted to President Barack Obama, who asked Biden in January to lead the effort. "We sought to better understand and break down the silos and stovepipes that prevent sharing of information and impede advances in cancer research and treatment, while building a focused and coordinated effort at home and abroad," they explain.
The Bidens' wish list ranges from giving patients more control over their medical data to launching "a national conversation" about cancer drug pricing. They also want to see more high-risk research funding at NCI and changes to the institute's intramural research program to focus more on emerging science and major public health challenges.
An accompanying 29-page report from Biden's federal moonshot task force lists what agencies have done so far and their plans to address five strategic goals. The first goal, "catalyze new scientific breakthroughs," contains several items that "align with" the 10 research areas recommended last month by an NCI blue ribbon panel, the report says. For example, it describes Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to develop new imaging technologies for detecting early molecular changes in cells that may lead to cancer.
The Cancer Moonshot is part of the War on Cancer:
The mission of this Cancer Moonshot is not to start another war on cancer, but to win the one President Nixon declared in 1971. At that time, we didn't have the army organized, didn't have the military intelligence to know the enemy well, and therefore didn't have the comprehensive strategy needed to launch a successful attackânow we do. Because of the progress over the last 45 years we have an army of researchers and oncologists, the powerful technologies and weapons, and immense public support and commitment to action.
Related:
Biomedicine Facing a Worse Replication Crisis Than the One Plaguing Psychology
The White House Announces $121 Million Microbiome Initiative
"Cancer Moonshot" Releases Blue Ribbon Panel Report
Microsoft to "Solve the Problem of Cancer" Within Ten Years - Scientists are Skeptical
(Score: 4, Informative) by Dunbal on Tuesday October 18 2016, @11:58PM
I won't argue that point. The point I was trying to make is that most people are relatively healthy, somewhere around the center of the bell curve. As a physician myself I've seen what lies on either extreme of the curve - it's what I deal with every day. Telling THOSE people who through unfortunate genetics or unhappy accident have to lead a deficient life that they would have stayed healthy had they followed OP's recommendations is tantamount to a slap in the face. I think we've moved past the ancient belief that illness is caused by evil spirits and demons, and we also need to move past believing that illness is some sort of punishment. There are people who can smoke their whole lives and NOT get cancer or cardiovascular disease, for instance. However I'm not willing to put my reputation on the line and tell people not to worry about their smoking - because most people DO get sick from it. Exercise and diet is only PART of the answer. Another part lies within the individual organism. And yet another is just chance.
However there are many cases where drugs DO help those who are sick. I'll admit that not all drugs are helpful, and I will even go as far as to say that pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in skewing their results or outright lying and cheating - some have already been caught. However as a physician dealing with the sick it's not really my place to abandon all those sick people and dedicate all my resources to actually figure out if the snake oil I'm taught about actually works as advertised. That's a whole different career path. As long as I see patients claiming to feel better with treatment, I will take them at their word and continue to prescribe that treatment to others. At the end of the day, even the placebo effect is real.