A panel of independent experts, in a new medical study, concludes that drugs used to treat mild cases of high blood pressure are not very effective.  According to Slate’s Jeanne Lenzer, the study turns “decades of medical dogma” on its head, and she’s especially gaga about the “independent” nature of the panel, by which she means that the panelists who conducted the study don’t take money from drug companies.

Well, that’s nice, but I would want to know the answer to some other questions before becoming too excited about the independence of the panel.  For example, who did pay for the study? Did these esteemed researchers vote for Barack Obama in 2008? Do they support ObamaCare? If the government financed the study or the researchers are Obama supporters, then we rightly should question their independence and integrity. It seems a little too convenient that studies lately have been popping up everywhere showing that, whaddaya know, various treatments and procedures really aren’t necessary after all (e.g., mammograms, PSA tests, and now blood pressure medications).

After the impending government takeover of healthcare, the authoritarians not only will attempt to control total costs by instituting price controls, but also will have to restrict the volume of services. Of course, these volume restrictions will be the job of the infamous “death panel,” and I wonder if all of these so-called independent studies are setting the stage for the work of the death panel. Funny, but I didn’t notice Lenzer raising that issue.