D.C. Response Slow in Life-And-Death Cases (but quick with Terri S, case) [View All]

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050329/ap_on_go_co/life_and_death_lobbying&e=3

D.C. Response Slow in Life-And-Death Cases

Tue Mar 29, 4:35 PM ET




By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Though Congress rushed to intervene in the case of a brain-damaged Florida woman, those lobbying on life-and-death medical issues that affect thousands or even millions of people often find themselves struggling to get lawmakers' attention.

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AP Photo



It often comes down to the willingness of the government and lawmakers to spend money, say those who must make the pitch to Congress and federal agencies.

The National Aneurysm Alliance has been pressing Congress for months to approve federal funding to screen Medicare patients for deadly abdominal aortic aneurysms, but so far has come up empty on money for the roughly $80 to $100 tests. Contrasting that fight with congressional leaders' weekend rush earlier this month to try to get Terri Schiavo's feeding tube restored, the alliance's leader can't hide his frustration.

"Our best estimate is that about 15,000 Americans die each year from ruptured aneurysms, and I grew up in a town in central Connecticut where the entire population was about 30,000, so that's about half my town keeling over," said Dr. Robert Zwolak, chairman of the alliance and a surgery professor at Dartmouth Medical School.

"Those lives would all be saved if we could find them by screening," Zwolak added. "Yes, the Schiavo case is tragic, but the reality is on average about 40 people a day are going to be dying of ruptured aneurysms."....