Contact:  Editor, Momentum
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Atlanta, GA 30322
404-727-8793

Save Lives or Save Money?

The article in the spring edition of Momentum concerning The Emory Clinic was excellent, and I congratulate the author, Jon Saxton, on concisely and accurately reporting the problems that have confronted the clinic in recent years.

Although I am now retired, I lived through much of the turmoil that you have described. Unfortunately, other clinics similar to Emory have faced the same challenges.

The reasons for these problems center on the fact that we have allowed health care reform to become too closely identified with cost control. Saving lives does not save money. Managed care companies have destroyed many of the incentives that motivate physicians. We will never recover from this sad state of affairs so long as we allow these companies to function for the benefit of stockholders instead of patients.

Rising medical costs are a result of our success, not failure. As world leaders in medicine, we are being punished for our success. Creating profit that is not reinvested in research, teaching, and patient care will eventually destroy medicine as we know it today.

Paul W. Seavey
Professor Emeritus
Former Chief, Internal Medicine

High Impact

I want to tell you what has happened because of the Momentum article, "The Healing Fields," about the South Georgia Farmworker Health Project so that you realize the impact of what you do.

Some CDC employees read the article and called us. A Latino employees group at CDC that advocates for people of Latino origin referred three CDC employees who served as volunteer medical interpreters for this year's project in June. One was a physician, the other two were professionals within various branches of the CDC. They also wanted to observe what we were doing, and they have encouraged us to investigate other funding opportunities relevant to our project that would allow research on minority population health issues including the migrant and seasonal farm workers.

An epidemiologist who had taught some of our research courses in the past and had gone with us on the project several years ago brought the article to her employer, AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company. AstraZeneca will support the project with an educational grant and provide planning support for future data collection and analysis of demographics, disease incidence, and trends. They will be donating two frequently used medicines for medical problems common in this population.

Just wanted you to know the hidden fruits of your labors.

Virginia Joslin
Assistant Professor
Family and Preventive Medicine

From the Director  /  Letters

Connecting the Dots

The Doctor is Always In

Governmental Regulation
of Research: The Good,
the Bad, and the Ugly

Moving Forward  /  Noteworthy

Second Chance for
Boarder Babies