At 09:42 PM 7/8/98 , Jerry Finch wrote:
>"That means the agency spent about $1,162 in research monies
>for every heart disease death, versus $33,513 for every AIDS
>death."
>
>Hold on a cotton-pickin' minute here. My understanding is
>that PD gets 28 bucks a year, right? What's up with this? PD
>is a third-class disease?
>
Jerry, I fully agree with your conclusion. However, this is a comparison
we can't afford to make, because "No one dies of PD." Though possibly
technically correct, of course, lots of people with PD did sooner than they
otherwise might, but "from other causes."
So we're spending $28 million a year -- and it has been more lately -- on a
disease from which nobody dies? That's a staggering amount per death. It
doesn't sound right. It's not the position I would find easiest to defend.
This is a living disease. We count people suffering with it. We count
people failing to achieve. We count dollars spent helping people live with
it - the overall economic cost - which we conservatively consider to be
$25,000 million in the U.S. alone. And we can talk about our (indeed, any)
government's direct expenses for disability pensions and medical assistance
for people with PD.
Dr. Bill Heitman says that our government has direct expenses of $13.6
million a day because of people with Parkinson's. Pay for a just over a
week ($95.2 million) of these expenses and you've covered the funding of
the Udall Bill ($100 million) for a full year.
That's the way I hear money talking.
Art
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Arthur Hirsch {} [log in to unmask] {} Lewisville, TX {} 972-434-2377
(nickname on instant mail, ICQ, and chat programs is cutterson)
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Always Remember This: Happiness Is Right, So Choose Happiness
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