Health-Care Hucksters, What Their Ads Say -- And Don't Say was the title of an article in the February, 1994 issue of Consumer Reports. The subject of the piece was recent advertising by the American Medical Association, the Health Insurance Association of America, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. The advertising campaigns of these three groups are focused on health care reform.
The article reports that while while the AMA advertising is talking about health care for everyone, that "since as far back as 1946, the AMA has been the major obstacle in universal coverage, fighting national health insurance whenever it appeared on the national agenda." The article reveals that the AMA's, "This is the moment of truth," ad running in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report, is part of a $1.9 million advertising campaign. Consumer Reports asserts that despite all the AMA's advertising talk of putting patient care first, that "... the AMA is really talking about putting the incomes of doctors first, as it has done for 48 years."
The advertising campaign of the Health Insurance Association of America (HICA) is priced at $65.5 million, which includes "a toll-free telephone number to learn more about the insurers' brand of reform." So far, 228,000 people have called, and some 18,000 of them (or about 8 percent) have filled out a response card asking to be supporters of the HICA's Coalition for Health Insurance Choices.
While the Consumer Report's article didn't specify the amount of money being spent by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assoc., for their advertising campaign, the suggestion is that it must be heavy: "The drug companies are the most profitable of all Fortune 500 industries. The industry's 30.8 percent return on stockholders equity, a common measure of profitability, soars above that of other industries and has for years. During the 1980s, drug prices rose almost 20 percent more each year than other medical services. And health care reform stands to make drug companies even more profitable, as long as Congress avoids clamping down on prices."
Continuing to impress the advertising and marketing world, The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) has again been recognized by industry organizations for its excellence in educating consumers on the benefits of chiropractic, this time through social media, newsletters, and demonstrating thought leadership by promoting holistic well-being.
Dr. Louis Sportelli received the Lee-Homewood Chiropractic Heritage Award during the annual conference of the Association for the History of Chiropractic (AHC). During his nearly 60-year career, Dr. Sportelli has embodied the spirit of the award, given to “living individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the chiropractic profession.”
Presently there is no consensus on the best treatment for Achilles tendon rupture; and its management is still controversial. The treatment options are conservative treatment and surgical repair. With either treatment, be it conservative or surgical, Achilles tendon tears necessitate prolonged recovery and rehabilitative management.
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