Consumers and "comparative effectiveness"

Merrill Goozner's GoozNews, a healthcare letter I've recommended before, reports that the GAO has appointed the 17 representatives to the advisory board that oversees Comparative Effectiveness Research on drugs. The 3 so-called "patient and consumer representatives" are not exactly that. One has strong ties to the insurance industry and the other two have been advocates for "fast tracking" of medicines. It seems almost impossible for the Washington establishment to actually include real consumer advocates on any bodies that have real power. It would have been nice to see at least one rep from, say, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) or some other group that actually represents consumers' and not industrial or insurance interests.