As quoted in Congressional Quarterly:
The ever-evolving blogosphere is now helping to shape the health policy debate by allowing more interaction between the public and policy makers, said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael O. Leavitt , a blogger himself.
Leavitt, who launched his blog on the HHS Web site in August 2007, said his entries follow a range of topics, from day-to-day experiences, to his thoughts and decisions surrounding health care issues and policies.
People can post comments on his blog, which Leavitt said has provided valuable information.
“There have been times when someone has made an argument to me that I found compelling that I am sure began to mold and shape my thinking,” he said during a Kaiser Family Foundation event Tuesday.
Blogging can be a “very powerful engine for public policy setting,” he added, citing a recent HHS blog established to advance a summit on pandemic flu. He said the pandemic flu blog was a “wild success” in terms of being able to communicate with active “flubies” on the issue.
Note, this appointed Bureaucrats’ evidence of the power of medical blogging is that he has a blog and that people can leave comments. That’s laughable on its face, and the hubris underlying is truly impressive.
Any evidence he’s read any other medical blog? No. None.
This is unimpressive by any standard. Emarrasing, really.
One also wonders about any evidence that he writes the entries himself.
I’ve read some blogs allegedly written by various corporate types, politicians, and they don’t read like blogs. More like corporate reports, news releases, opinion papers.
But he is respectfully describing them as “flubies.” Clearly he is the real deal. :-)