Medical Research Service Offers New Hope to Cancer Patients and Others

How would you feel if you discovered your doctor knew of a possible lifesaving treatment for you and never told you about it? Never happen, you say? Then obviously you haven�t heard about HMO "gag rules. "
Gag rules stop a doctor from telling patients about treatments not covered by their plan, even if those treatments might save their lives. Gag rules are one of several reasons that led Marie Mangano, R.N., and former biomedical engineer Elliot Eckhaus to offer their medical research service to patients as well as to doctors. Under the name of Medical Research Associates (MRA), they are making available individualized medical research reports for cancer patients and others with rare or chronic disease. MRA�s toll free patient information line is 1-800- 497-0490.
At the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Edward Trimble, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "It certainly is disturbing that people aren�t getting the treatment we recommend. "He was referring to a paper he presented on patterns of care for women with ovarian cancer. Trimble stated that the findings underscore the need to educate both physicians and patients and stressed the need to make sure women across the country know what they should expect from their physicians.
Knowing what you should expect from a competent physician is central to every MRA report. "Whether newly diagnosed, already in treatment, or even in remission, you�ll have the opportunity through an MRA report to find out about the latest treatment options, both conventional and alternative. You can then compare them for success rates, as well as for risks and side effects, " Eckhaus said. "An MRA search has access to over 8 million references from 3,900 medical journals. "
Additional reasons for offering this service to patients are the growing number of HMOs and managed care plans that reward doctors with financial bonuses when they provide less care. These systems put the financial interests of the doctor against the medical interests of the patient. Because of this, you cannot be sure whether you will be getting the best treatment or one that just costs less. MRA reports include copies of medical journal articles authored by leading doctors who specialize in your illness and have treated it successfully. All cancer reports as well as reports on many other illnesses contain information on support groups, home care, free services for patients, financial aid, and free medications for those in need. Cancer reports also contain tips for coping effectively with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. MRA individualized cancer reports are 150 to 300 pages and cost $285. Research reports on other diseases and medical problems are $185. Quarterly update service is also available. For additional information patients can call Medical Research Associates toll free at 800/497- 0490.