National Children's Study Needs Pregnant Women for 21-Year Study

JC: Don't get me wrong. I think as much study as people want to allow themselves to be a part of is great. This is the part that disturbs me:

Authorized by Congress in 2000, the National Children’s Study began last January, its projected cost swelling to about $6.7 billion. With several hundred participants so far, it aims to enroll 100,000 pregnant women in 105 counties, then monitor their babies until they turn 21.

At those costs, let me tell you--women have been giving birth for eons and eons, and children do grow up, move on, have their own families. Why analyze every little bit, when it's costing taxpayers 6.7 billion dollars?

This is what I call waste. If private enterprise were funding it, that'd be one thing. Congress? To what ends, exactly? At this point, no one can say for certain what the goals are.

Impressive target for "n" here (100K.) Much bigger than Framingham , but not quite as big as Nurses' Health.

This will be a fantastic source for data if they can enroll enough people.

I don't think 6.7 billion over 21 years sounds excessive. Think of how much we've spent so far in Iraq....

the ultimate need for "significance", become part of a study under the guise of living more productive and meaningful lives.

Excellent research - trivial amount of money when you consider what we spend blowing sh*t up that never amounts to anything except heartache, hardship, and pain.

This is the kind of thing I want my tax dollars spent on.