I can’t make this up.
Some nice and well meaning emergency physician/academic gets 2.2 million in grant money.
To study the benefits of, believe it or not
Dr. Teach gets his 2.2 mil to evaluate the benefit of cell phone apps to improve asthma medication compliance and reduce stress for the patient and family.
Do I get that right–Wow what a great idea for research.
Find out how cell phones can make a difference, and apps for asthma compliance and stress? Whaaaaaat?
http://phys.org/wire-news/150470838/associate-chief-of-emergency-medicine-receives-22m-award-for-ast.html
A stress management program and tracking of medication use for an at-risk population “is very important,” Teach says. “It will give parents and doctors more choices in caring for children. medications taken.”
Remember, it’s free money so it doesn’t cost anything.
Years ago I had hard time and materials quotes for installing a 2-mile pipeline. New management decided that the company could get a loan/grant under Michigan’s jobs program and hired a consultant. The grant was for 4 times the quotes I had. When I complained to the consultant about the added cost the response was “Why are you complaining, it’s free money, it doesn’t cost you anything.” I never did ask the consultant what his cut of the free money was, but we had lot’s of extra and unnecessary people on the installation as well as increased costs for everything.
There’s real money to be made in grant farming. He wouldn’t do this anyway if he thought it might help? He just wouldn’t need $2 mil.
And just like Brewster’s Millions… you can’t have anything left to show for our money but the government must spend it.
While one could debate the value of the money spent, evidence-based medicine can help save money in the long-term. Noncompliance with medical interventions adds cost, morbidity, and mortality. It does take manpower and money to run such studies.
I’ll support govt funding for research (e.g. cost-effective use of medications, or inventing cheap green energy tech), but not subsidies and tax loopholes (e.g. for Big Green or Big Pharma).
I believe they are all part of a ‘ you scratch my back………….’ club
so what would you expect.