The other day I was on the phone talking to a friend of mine who happens to be a doctor.
I decided to ask him what he thought of the debate over health care reform. He said that it was completely fucked up (I think that is doctor talk). He said that Obama and the Democrats went about it ALL wrong, and what they should have done is to get a bunch of board certified physicians in a room and have them create a list of all that is wrong with health care in this country and a list of what they think might fix it.
Now this doctor mentioned tort reform, and over billing by physicians, but the thing that he felt attributed most to the high cost of health care is that people have become too dependent on medicine and doctors. And remember, THIS was coming from a man who made his living because people THOUGHT THEY WERE SICK!
And then he directed me to read the article which I have linked to right here, and a portion of which you can read below.
Somehow we have developed an expectation that our health should always be perfect, and if it isn't, there should be a pill to fix it. With every ache and sniffle we run to the doctor or purchase useless quackery such as the dietary supplement Airborne or homeopathic cures (to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year). We demand unnecessary diagnostic testing, narcotics for bruises and sprains, antibiotics for our viruses (which do absolutely no good). And due to time constraints on physicians, fear of lawsuits and the pressure to keep patients satisfied, we usually get them.
Yet the great secret of medicine is that almost everything we see will get better (or worse) no matter how we treat it. Usually better.
The human body is exquisitely talented at healing. If bodies didn't heal by themselves, we'd be up the creek. Even in an intensive care unit, with our most advanced techniques applied, all we're really doing is optimizing the conditions under which natural healing can occur. We give oxygen and fluids in the right proportions, raise or lower the blood pressure as needed and allow the natural healing mechanisms time to do their work. It's as if you could put your car in the service garage, make sure you give it plenty of gas, oil and brake fluid and that transmission should fix itself in no time.
The bottom line is that most conditions are self-limited. This doesn't mesh well with our immediate-gratification, instant-action society. But usually that bronchitis or back ache or poison ivy or stomach flu just needs time to get better. Take two aspirin and call me in the morning wasn't your doctor being lazy in the middle of the night; it was sound medical practice. As a wise pediatrician colleague of mine once told me, "Our best medicines are Tincture of Time and Elixir of Neglect." Taking drugs for things that go away on their own is rarely helpful and often harmful.
Essentially we are a nation waiting expectantly to become ill. We are bombarded by advertisements for medications to sedate our "restless legs", to lower our cholesterol, to help us sleep, to make our bones stronger, etc., etc., etc.. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of us will NEVER need any of those. But we THINK we will because they are such a prevalent part of our psyches.
Now days potential patients go to their doctors with a laundry list of advertised medications to ask their doctor about. "How about this one Doc? You know I DO feel dizzy if I stand up to fast. Or what about this one? You know after I spend a few hours in my garden my joints DO ache a little. Just point out the ones my insurance will cover. I will start with those."
It is ridiculous. And you cannot rely on your doctor to always steer you away from unnecessary medications either. The next time you visit your physician take a look at the logo on his pen, or on his coffee cup, or on the cute little digital clock on his desk. 99 out of a hundred times you will see the logo of some medication, whose (often very young and female) sales rep took your doctor out to lunch, or dinner, or paid their way to attend a convention at a resort in Hawaii (right next to the beach and golf course). If the medication will not do you any serious harm, and it will shut you up, the doctor may have no compelling reason NOT to write out a prescription.
However the more you rely on medication to make you feel better the weaker you are making your body. Essentially you are telling your body's natural defenses to sit this one out and let the drugs do the heavy lifting. This allows your immune system to get fat and lazy, so when you really need it to kick in and fight off something life threatening, it is unable to respond. Add that to our horrible diets, and lack of exercise, and no WONDER health care costs are through the roof in this country.
There is no profit in healthy people! But there is a buttload of money to be made on obese, inactive, and medication reliant people. So which side of the health care reform debate do YOU think has the most money to spend?
I have probably said this to you all before, but let me get up on my soapbox and say it again.
Going to your doctor is NOT health care, it is SICK CARE. You do not go because you feel healthy. You go because you don't feel well or because you want to be told if you should still THINK you feel well. "Give it to me straight Doc. Should I go ahead with my tennis game today, or check into the hospital?"
Real health care means eating a diet low in fat that avoids most processed foods and contains plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, getting plenty of exercise, laughing as much as possible during your day, and getting up off your ass. If more Americans made those choices we could bring health care costs down in no time.
Okay I am climbing down off of my soapbox now. You guys have a happy healthy Sunday.
Namaste
Update: Well this certainly elicited a lot of discussion.
Okay let me be clear about a few things.
I am not saying that people with REAL health problems should not seek medical advice. Of course they should. The problem is that people EXPECT to be ill and go to the emergency room for every little ailment. They also demand medication for things that their bodies are perfectly capable of defeating. But the reliance on medication is a serious problem, and the constant visits to the emergency rooms are a large part of what drives health care costs through the roof.
And I also have no problem with yearly checkups. I think you should go. Especially when you are my age. And if you are a woman then pap smears and mammograms should be part of your preventative plan.
But if you are really treating your body as if you want it to last a long time, then most of the time your checkups will be drama free. You will have been engaging in "health care" all along and if the doctor does find something which requires his expertise he will find that your body is capable of making a fast recovery.
Update 2: Just to clear up any confusion, my doctor friend and the person who wrote the article are NOT the same person. The words that I attributed to my friend are in the first few sentences. He DID however agree with much of what the article said, and told me that EVERY doctor he has shown it to also agreed with the majority of it.
Well said, Gryphen. In most cases, good self care is the best care. When my blood pressure started to rise, my own physician directed me to the gym and away from the salt shaker. My husband has severe familial hypercholestremia, which he controls through exercise and diet, rather than expensive statins. We're in our sixties, and virtually drug free and healthy. By taking responsibility for our own well-being, we benefit, as does our health care system (we're Canadian). Of course, should we have a real problem, such as a broken leg or a cancer, then we seek medical care. The rest of it, taking good care of our bodies and souls, is up to us.
ReplyDeleteGood posting Gryphen. I work for a large medical center and we have a policy I wish many others would follow. No employee is allowed to accept anything, not even a cup of coffee, from an outside vendor. Nothing, Nada. I had lived in the UK for several years and was shocked by the number of pharmaceutical ads on TV when I returned. It's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of neighbors, both women in their 70s whose health care is paid for by the rest of us. One of them in the past couple of years, called an ambulance twice because she was having trouble sleeping. The other showed me a scratch the other day, a small scratch mind you, and ask me if I thought she should go to the doctor. Of course, I said "put a band aid on it." But one of the big problems is that there's an attitude with people and so-called "entitlements" that makes them believe that if they don't use every single service they possibly can they're missing out.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with this article. We are constantly bombarded with advertising telling us there is a little pill to solve that problem (that isn't a real problem). Many times, the side affects are considerably worse that the original issue.
ReplyDeleteYou described a former friend of mine to a tee. She would go to the doctor for a cold. A cold! Not to mention all the other "ailments" she had. She's only in her thirties, but talks about her aches and pains as if she's eighty years old.
I'm the opposite. I have an aversion to doctors due to multiple surgeries and arrogant god-complex docs. I've had them push pills on me I didn't want, tell me I should wait to have my tubes tied because I might meet a man someday that wants children (I was 35 at the time with an 11 year old son and firmly did not want more children [my beautiful boy was enough for me]). And the kicker: it wasn't God's will for me to decide to stop reproducing.
My current doc (love her!) will mention a medication for treatment of something but will not push it if I disagree. I feel the same way your doc friend does. If it's necessary, fine. But if not, what's the damn point if it's only going to take its toll on your body in other ways? I take 2 medications that I feel are absolutely necessary: thyroid and blood pressure medication. I refuse to take any others unless they are detrimental to saving my life. Otherwise, natural herbs are good.
Sorry for the long post and run-on sentences, but you hit a hot-button on this one.
Right on Gryphen!!!
ReplyDeleteDrug advertising is illegal in Australia. The benefits are
ReplyDelete* when you buy a magazine, half of it isn't multi-page layouts advertising drugs,
* there are no TV ads trying to scare us with contrived illnesses,
* drug companies don't need to recoup advertising costs.
I can't believe how many people argue that insurance equals health care. Love this post, but it's crazy talk in a world of doctors sponsored by drug companies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this in general, particularly considering the point that 99% of the average person's health expenditures come in the last 2 weeks of life. That is crazy and it's going to be difficult to curtail. However, the continuing loss of insured patients in the US is going to affect that issue.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add that although a portion of high health care costs are due to poor lifestyle and diet choices, a huge percentage is due to cancer, which is directly attributable (although you won't catch corporate America doing so) to exposure to toxins in our air, water and food. Those toxins are being put out there by companies because it is more profitable to do that than clean up their emissions, and the average person who gets cancer, emphysema, asthma, or perhaps even autism, is paying the real costs.
here's a recent post about chemicals in the environment and the lousy job our government is doing to protect our health:
http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2010/02/synergy-of-80000.html
I have an interesting observation about all these drugs we see advertised on TV - they primarily treat symptoms. They don't cure the condition or disease. Go Potty too often? Here's an Avadart to shrink your swollen prostrate, but if you stop taking our medicine, it will swell up again. Here's a pill for your restless legs. It just stops your legs from jumping around when you're trying to go to sleep, until you stop taking the drug. Here's some Lipitor to lower your LDL because you are unwilling to modify your lifestyle enough to have it occur naturally. The one I won't pound on is Plavix to prevent blood clots. This is a Wonder Drug and it is unfortunate that until it goes off-patent in 2011, it will cost $6-7 a pill. (Gosh, it's so good to be true I wonder if they'll find something horribly wrong with it, like it damages your brain or something.)
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree! With the advent of new technology and medicine, our life expectancies of gotten higher and our expectations that a pill or a procedure will cure every little thing have also grown. Most people I know run to urgent care or the ER for the slightest thing. I grew up with a self-employed dad and we had no health insurance back then (4 kids!). Yet, we hardly ever needed to see a doctor. If we didn't feel good we took some aspirin, ate some chicken soup, put a cold rag on our head and laid down for a day or two. And we got better!
ReplyDeleteWhen raising my kids I did have health insurance. Still, my kids rarely went to the doctor except for immunizatons and ear infections. They are healthy adults.
We do all need to be more judicious in our use of doctors for everything, even if we DO have health insurance. Although some major procedures cost a lot, I do believe it;s the accumulation of all the little things that have made a big difference in health care costs.
Thanks for letting me join you on the soap box!
Good post.
ReplyDeleteHealth care should be more based on preventive care (diet, exercise, etc..) and not running to the doctor.
Thank-you Gryphen for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true! The Walmart pharmacy
lines (at least in NY & here in TN)
are so long whenever I've been in
the big "W," you'd think they were
selling tickets 50% off for a Broadway
smash. People seem obsessed with
health, yet rarely do they read the
list of ingredients in the canned &
boxed food their shopping carts are full of. Two additives that should always be a no-no are, high fructose
corn syrup (contains mercury) &
processed cheese (contains MSG &
aluminum). Block cheeses do not. And
of course, flouride in toothpaste.
Google flouride & see what comes up.
We use "Tom's."
Thx, Sharon TN
So the board certified Dr who went to medical school thinks that its all the fault of the uneducated uninformed patients?They come to an expert and because he has "time constraints" to help him make more money by seeing more patients than he can properly treat he just does what the patient wants? He prescribes what ever they want and not what his education tells him they need? Perhaps he should spend 5 minutes explaining to the patient that their virus will not be helped by an antibiotic and that it will make it more difficult for them t get helped by an antibiotic in the future.
ReplyDeleteI changed Drs after watching the hot young girl with the killer clothes direct an assistant to push a huge trolley of gourmet food through the door into the office-the door we were not allowed to touch until called.We all then had to wait an extra hour for our appointments that day.After going in and being Dx'd with diabeties,I watched my Dr and his hot young pahysicians assistant peruse some of the paper work left by the drug rep.They actually sat there in front of me and figured out which monitor to prescribe,along with test strips,by looking to see which one would give them the most money from the drug rep!!!They pulled a sticker off of a sheet and attached it to a form and wrote my prescription.
The only time constraints were directed at us patients,not the drug rep.My Dr spent 5 minutes on the exam and 10 figuring out how to make more money.I then overheard him discussing how he was getting his own colonoscopy machine so he could make more money than he would get from referrals. He was like a kid in a candy store.
Sure,many people go to the Dr too often and expect miracles.It seems like the Drs who are the experts could spend 5 minutes and explain that to them,and save lots time in the future on these wastefull visits.
Easy for you to say but there are many diseases which have nothing to do with being lazy or eating wrong. Try multiple sclerosis or Parkinsons. Should those people take no medicine? How about malaria or leukemia or multiple myeloma. Your approach is demeaning and your doctor friend is in the wrong business. There are dizzy people who have an acoustic neuroma (tumour) or menieres disease.
ReplyDeleteI hope you post this as maybe I am reading you wrong. But your attitude is over simplistic and your "doctor" friend is ad empathetic as a piece of wood. Tell him to get the H out of medicine and go work for insurance companies.
Have you ever had an illness? If you think eating right, exercising and laughter prevent all illness you are either naive or unaware of the plethora of complicated illnesses.
People SHOULD tell their doctors all their symptoms and not be made to feel like hypochondriacs!! I had a patient with all kinds of strange symptoms who was told my multiple doctors she was neurotic, depressed, lazy etc. Guess what - 20 years later and a brain MRI shows little holes all over-(white matter lesions) . She had an infection in her brain caused by a tick bite. If only someone had listened , she would not be personally disabled
Your attitude and your doctors friends attitude are harmful and cold. Really terrible and dangerous and simplistic.
Gryph, as someone who works in the medical field specifically in kidney disease, I've got to say, you are partially right --
ReplyDeleteBig pharma is doing its best to try to get us worried and dependent on their latest products. HOWEVER
Simple doctor's office visits are not the biggest costs in medicine. Hospitalizations are. Cancer treatments, dialysis, transplants, open heart surgeries, diabetes -- these are our biggest expenses in health care (actual disease care). Please keep in mind who gets kicked off their insurance plans -- it's the truly sick, the ones with cancer, diabetes, premature heart disease, renal failure because they are the ones who are actually expensive, not the ones who run to the doc for the sniffles. Insurance companies are pleased as punch to keep taking everyone else's money. Also keep in mind -- in that list above, who has these problems? The elderly and the ones who get kicked off. Who covers the elderly and the ones who get kicked off and are lucky enough to survive to be disabled? We do -- medicare and medicaid. Next time you get a paycheck, look to see how much gets pulled out of your check for medicare, and how much for your own insurance. For me, its a couple of bucks for medicare and medicaid; it's ~500 bucks for my own. Now how is it we can cover the truly ill and most expensive in our country for a couple of bucks a month each, but it costs the relatively healthy 500 a month? Believe me, our insurance premiums are not ever increasing because we run to the doc for the sniffles. They are increasing because the overhead -- including the average nine and a half million dollar salaries the insurance exec makes is not an actual medical expense. Those glossy brochures we get, those millions in advertising -- not medical expenses.
Yes, we don't all have restless leg syndrome -- that is an awful thing suffered by dialysis patients, a tiny percent of the population. Those adds have always cracked me up. But when was the last time you actually went to the doctor thinking you had some minor complaint you don't and demanding medication for it? When was the last time you demanded unnecessary surgery? I know I never have, and I don't know anyone who has. The cholesterol lowering meds -- yeah, I think too many people are taking them unnecessarily. The pharmas are successfully taking us for a ride there. But it's diseases like end stage renal failure that are the major expenses in this country, and everyone with end stage renal disease is defined as disabled and covered by medicare and medicaid.
I could go on, but I love you and will spare you my boring lectures: I'll stop my rant there! :)
ltl
And in case you think I am one of those people you think are such lazy,over eating slobs,I can tell you that I was one of the strongest,healthiest,most fit healthy eating middle aged women until an inherited tendency to gout flared up.The foods that cause gout to get worse?Lean red meat,shellfish,beans,peas,whole grains,nuts,many vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower,and by too much exercise. The foods that dont cause flares?processed grains,cream soups instead of broth based,cheese,etc.So then my genetic tendency for Diabeties shows up .Aggravated by the gout diet,and too little exercise.Which is aggravated by the diabetic diet.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should quit going to the Dr ??
My dad did that.He suffered horribly with both,and chose to live on aspirins by the handful,not knopwing that that aggravates gout too.But the diabeties and the gout did not kill him.Pancreatic cancer did,diagnosed too far along for any help,because he gave up on the Drs.
Hard to say what the answer is.
Gryphen, you're absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteBut the problem is that when something REALLY happens to you, perhaps symptoms that are devastating and confusing, your GP will instantly send you to the hospital to get $30,000 worth of tests. My friend the GP does this every day because as a GP he doesn't have the diagnostic machines and testing facilities to dig deeper into a person's problems, and also he has serious liability issues if he attempts to treat people WITHOUT sending them for $30,000 worth of tests. He doesn't like it, but there is nothing he can do about it.
Case in point: one of his female patients, middleaged and healthy, passed out in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. She went to him. By law and by medical tradition, he had to send her off to the hospital to get literally $30,000 worth of tests. Only then would somebody attempt to diagnose and treat her if she was found to have an underlying condition requiring treatment.
So that $30,000 either has to be paid by her out of pocket or by her health care insurer.
Why does it cost $30,000 to receive a few simple tests? You're using a few machines at the hospital for about five minutes and the doctors there aren't even treating you - this is just for diagnostics. You're renting their facilities and their time performing tests for exorbitant rates - roughly $30,000 for an hour or two of tests (at most.)
THESE are the serious problems that people are facing. Not abuse of the medical system. Although obviously, as you've so rightly posted, it's necessary to take charge of your health as much as possible, getting good nutrition, adequate hydration (we do NOT drink enough water, and we need to drink purified water, not flouride-contaminated crap), exercise, etc.
But when something DOES go wrong this system is, as your friend so aptly put it, totally fucked up.
That $30,000 worth of tests that my GP friend has to immediately prescribe for his patients when they have something unusual happen to them does not even include the cost of TREATMENT after those tests. That's just up front diagnostic costs.
And it's insane. We shouldn't have to go broke just to get to the bottom of problems we're having.
I just read this again and it's infuriating and demeaning to people who are ill. This isn't why health care costs are through the roof! Look at other countries. They have lower costs and in some cases the people have poorer nutrition and are in better shape.
ReplyDeleteThere are hundreds if new emerging diseases crippling people! Many gave nothing to do with lifestyle but have to do with climate change ( yes more tick and vector borne diseases), pollution, chemicals, plastics and toxins in your food.
Your lecturing approach is hardly helpful to people who need to make lifestly changes. You are so blaming and hard on people. Truly it's offensive and insensitive.
You sound like Sarah Palin Gryphen- it's terrible!!!!!!
Well said, Gryphen!
ReplyDeleteWe are disconnected from what makes us truly healthy and we are disconnected from the reality of dying. No one wants to grow old, either, and I think that's part of the same package.
And yet we have the chance to live longer and better than most of humankind ever has.
Perhaps gratitude could be the new elixir of life.
I totally agree! I believe the power of our minds and bodies is the best healer of everyday ailments.
ReplyDeleteOur hospitals charge outrageous sums & through their 'non-profit' system build state of the art additions & advertise with millions of dollars competing for 'sick' people.
Yet, when you enter these 'monoliths' a simple 4 hr. outpatient kidney stone operation costs $12,000. & you are sent home with oxycontin for pain. So begins a chance for addiction.
Hospitals along with Insurance and Pharmaceutical Companies should all be held accountable. They all contribute to the demoralizing Healthcare in America.
Pharma bombards our tv's with Ads of their latest medications that cause as much harm as the cigarette advertising that was banned.
Whew that felt good....Thanks for the Post.
Going to the doctor is NOT health care? Yikes, I thought going for those regular check-ups the doctor INSISTS on was health care. Now I can just say NO to the doc because it's really just plain SICK CARE. That sure will straighten out that silly doc.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gryphen.
Further, when we allow drug companies to sell directly to the consumer, even though the small print proviso says to consult your doctor, we create a populace that ask for those drugs in the doctor's office.
ReplyDeleteDirect marketing (TV,magazines) would never be tolerated in other countries...only here.
Now, I'm not one for pain and at 62 I'm not ready to accept the "diagnosis" that I'm not 22 anymore,so what do you expect. But somewhere in the middle lies the solution.
Gail, thank you. We are bombarded with unhealthy shit in our food and air and water. Corporate poison is everywhere and in everything.
ReplyDeleteAs a two-time cancer survivor, I resent being lectured to about health care and I resent Gryphen's lecture. His blog, he can say what he wants, but it it NOT that simple. My two different forms of cancers did not just go away or get better on their own.
Loved your soapbox...and agree totally. Thanks for the article.
ReplyDeleteSoapBox it out Gry!!
Interesting and timely post. Your doctor friend is right. This sort of 'medicalization' is out of control--pushed both by the 'worried well,' anxious consumers who feel entitled to perfect health in imperfect bodies, and the completely amoral pharmaceutical industry (see: new Avandia scandal). This is the one area where I do think there is legitimate room for tort reform. An example is the expectation that all babies should be healthy and that, therefore, an unhealthy birth MUST be the fault of someone. It is a ridiculous premise and short of actual negligence or bad practice, it is frankly childish to believe that all humans will come into this world in perfect form. Doesn't happen in nature--never has and probably never will--yet billions of dollars change hands over what is simply part of the human condition. Of course it is a tragedy for a child to have health issues and if they are the result of frank negligence that is a different situation. But often malpractice suits for problems at birth are nothing more than a cash cow for personal injury attorneys who pray on the devastation and fears of new parents to pad their own pockets. There are numerous other examples of fake malpractice claims run amok.
ReplyDeleteA doctor who writes for the New Yorker, Atul Gawande, has been trying to make this point, as well. Ultimately, it doesn't matter who we decide will pay for healthcare--govt., industry, individuals--if we can't figure out how to get costs under control. I see it in my own group, a research/support group for a rare disease. I get calls asking us to write letters to support insurance coverage for drugs that are outrageously expensive, yet have no evidence-based usefulness for this disease. When I ask parents if a particular drug that costs $3,000 each month seems to be effective, it is often a concept they never even considered. If the answer is 'no, it doesn't really seem to do much,' they often still feel they need to keep their child on it 'just in case.' In one case, a mucus thinning drug, there is an alternative to the $3,000 a month option that is literally .03 per treatment. Because it is cheap, there is a psychological impression that it must not be any good, even though the cheaper option has decades of proven effectiveness to support it, unlike the more expensive drug which was only evaluated in 2 disease states.
A big part of healthcare reform will mean reforming expectations and getting consumer buy-in to accept more cost-effective options. People confuse 'advocacy' with 'demanding the world.' I see it as establishing what is best practice and making sure everyone has access to it. As an advocate (and also a parent of an affected child), I have gotten on the wrong side of many in my patient group and my colleagues by suggesting that we are part of the problem, but the fact is, we are!
I totally agree with most of your article. But your doctor friend is part of a group which has a monopoly and uses it to their financial benefit. There are not enough doctors and the AMA want to keep it that way. If there actually were enough maybe there'd be a little competition over doctor's fees. No one ever discusses the cost of physicians and the costs of procedures. The industry just sets those and raises them when it wants to. I would like to see doctors making a pledge not to take perks from drug reps. I know they justify it by getting free samples to hand out to patients who can't afford it. Doctors are smart enough to know how they play a part in drug pushing on a gullible population. It's easier to give patients what they want rather than explain why it's a bad idea. I also think some of their medical cures are bad for us in the longer term and people who run to the doctor often end up with more health problems. Aaurgh, there's too much to say about all this.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, while I agree with some of those comments, and have been a healthy person all my life (but always going for a yrly pap because my mom died of cervical cancer), some people do abuse the system while others don't get what they need. For most people, a once a year checkup is all that's needed. I once worked in a law firm in which every female there had "fibromyalgia" which was the "disease du jour" that one worker was pushing, while another was pushing "carpel tunnel syndrome" (Listen: I typed 100 wpm for 40 over 40 yrs and never developed it.) It's not just TV advertising that makes people "feel" an ache or pain.
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were small, they were covered by ins. which they never needed. Fevers, scratches, normal everyday childhood tummy aches and hurts were treated by me and they were usually over fevers quickly. If they had NOT recovered from those, they would have been taken to the dr, of course, but it was never necessary. I'm always appalled at how little today's parents know about their own kids health and leave it up to an expensive office visit to find out there's nothing the dr. can really do except for a bandaid or an aspirin. And they keep taking them back.
Since I've been in my 60s, though, I've developed high blood pressure (along with high cholesterol, it runs in my family). But I still don't feel I get adequate care, so I try to watch my diet (mostly vegetarian), no fast foods, etc. Since I don't work any more, I don't get enough exercise, which is a problem, but no one wants a 69 yr old these days. I've changed drs to try to get off Lipitor which the old dr wanted to test my liver for 3 times a yr! So you get bad liver function w/Lipitor, obviously. Also heard a dr on NPR talking about diet which will lower bp as much as pills do, so am trying to find something on that.
I confess, though, at my age, sometimes I just don't feel like getting up off my ass, a tired feeling that won't go away possesses me--guess it's a Catch 22 situation with aching legs which prevent much exercise, and no exercise exacerbating things, eh?
Hi Gryph: OK = wife of physician here. I believe last spring (2009) the rules were changed re: big pharma gifts to docs. This includes lunch, pens, pencils, coffee cups and trips. Most good physicians don't prescribe meds because they get a free pen.
ReplyDeletePeople make demands...good docs say no. NO antibiotics for a virus.
People who go to a doc or an ER for silly things (a scratch, a headache they've had for an hour, a kid who's had a fever for 4 days that should have seen a GP) are costing a lot of money to the general public. They are taking up time and resources from SICK people.
Gryphen is correct. Many many diseases are self-limiting. Also the individual who mentioned environmental exposures was dead on. People are getting sick from our environment and what we are being exposed to and that includes food additives. Do not get me started on the gazillions of dollars people spend treating disease homeopathically...many of our true pharmaceuticals ARE plant based and can cause harm as well.
On the other hand, we expect medicine to correct the things that we have chosen to do wrong...no exercise, a diet high in fats and meat, few vegetables and fruit...we can help ourselves.
We are both healthy, on virtually NO medications (an occasional ibuprofen for achy joints when it rains), and approaching and over 65 and 70 years of age. I see a GYN once a year - hubs has had 2 basal cells removed...that's it. We exercise, we eat healthy, we take care of ourselves so doctors don't have to.
I am not minimizing people with severe illness or injury. Going to a physician should be done when a real problem exists. It is not only a waste of a patient's time, but a huge waste of a physician's time to spend time seeing a patient who has "nothing" wrong. Many are lonely elderly people who have no one to talk with. Some are hypochondriacs. Sorting through these patients is a horrible use of resources that can be used to take care of patients who are really SICK.
ER's are a phenomenal expense...see your physician if the problem is minor. Or go to Doc-in-a-Box if your child has an ear infection, or has been sick for 3 days and you decide to worry all of a sudden at 3:00am.
There is fault in both sides. Most physicians are just people - they have families, and lives like everyone else. They are not money driven (it is NOT the docs making money here). They volunteer in disasters (Haiti for example, and the Tsunami in Indonesia) at their own expense. They studied for years (4 years college, 4 years medical school, 5 years residency (for a surgeon), 2 years of fellowship just to come out $200K in debt and go into practice.
They aren't all bad. I know so many and they are all frustrated and feel that many people who truly NEED help aren't getting it. Our ER's are clogged with people who use it as a GP which is so time wasting.
But we as patients also should at least make an attempt to take care of ourselves both in our lives, our exercise patterns, our eating habits and placing ourselves at risk.
So ... I'm back in the middle. There is good and bad on both sides. Get the Ins Companies out of the middle and you'd see a huge difference.
Dr. Who, Gryphen is right when he points out that many health problems are preventable. Some are not. Cancer, infections, diseases such as polio, malaria, etc. do need intervention. These make up a small, very small proportion of dis-ease that drives people to doctor's offices. I'm a Canadian senior, but I do travel extensively in the USA. I can't believe what drug companies get away with in your country with their advertising, etc. It seems that Americans have diseases and symptoms that the rest of the world is immune to! Restless legs?
ReplyDeletePolymorphic disorder? Shyness?
And a pill is the cure-all? Take a walk, eat a decent meal, help a stranger! It sounds simplistic, but for much of what ails you, it works.
Gryphen:
ReplyDeleteYes, food is the best medicine, but the drug companies and insurance companies are like a crime syndicate.
There is a brilliant book by a Dr. Batmanghelidj, called "Your Body's Many Cries For Water" which make a compelling case that most chronic illnesses are caused by chronic dehydration.
The drug industry also tried to patent the Indian spice, Turmeric, which acts 5X better than any patented drug with virtually no side effects. Why? So they could jack up the price and control it. They lost the court case.
There have been stories that cancer may be curable using a simple, cheap substance - This sort of research is frowned upon -profits suffer.
http://tinyurl.com/ntnskn
The food industry cares little about the health of it's customers, just it's profits/
Amen! I totally agree, yet my friends and family get angry at me for NOT going to a doctor. I pay attention to my body and let it heal. I teach my children to do the same. The last time I went to the doctor for back problems, the DR saw me for five minutes, checked my reflexes with his little hammer and sent me down for an MRI. I asked the receptionist the price. She was shocked I asked and did not know! Finally she dug around and gave me a range: between 3000 and 3300 dollars. I said no thank you and walked away. I have been healing my back by resting it and i am trying to lose some weight and walk daily. I refuse to be part of this ridiculous medical system where everyboy thinks they are a princess and deserves top of the line machinery for every ailment. Some people think I am being dumb. So be it!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, Gryphen. Eat well, exercise, and don't rush to the hospital for every little thing.
Thanks for the soapbox rant ... it's refreshing to hear that there are others who believe this and can articulate it so well.
Jessica
by the way: the five minute Dr. appt. cost almost three hundred dollars!
You know, there is a word you could use now and then that would make sense. The word is some.
ReplyDeleteFor example when you insert that word into a sentence as a qualifier, you are not condemning all of humanity!
"The problem is that some people EXPECT to be ill..."
However, I find the post to rather demeaning because of your last sentence. I guess I am not a good person in your world because even with proper care of myself for years, all the expertise of a bucketfull of doctors couldn't put me back together again so that I would work properly. The reason I still go to doctors all the time IS for health care so that I do NOT get sick again!
There's enough blame for our growing costs to spread around. My step cousin and his wife sell pharmaceuticals and they sure do have a lot of money. Think of the thousands of attractive people selling drugs to doctors in this country, spending money to take doctors to dinner and the World Series...
ReplyDeleteDoctors certainly are to blame for a good deal of it, too. There've been quite a number of interesting studies, like the survey that came out recently about the huge chunk of doctors who have made mistakes in surgery. My BF is in nursing school and so far he's come back with stories about three huge, terrible mistakes. The GOP wants reform of malpractice cases,,,yeah, um, tell that to the family of a 27-year-old with ovarian cancer whose surgeon knicked her bowel...She's already got a compromised immune system...So, good job on that.
The best however was an article written BY A DOCTOR in the The New Yorker about a year ago maybe, about MCallen Texas. This place has the second highest Medicare payments in the country, tons higher than cities with similar demographics (so don't blame the high level of Latinos, please). What's interesting is that the doctors in McAllen OWN THE HOSPITALS...You go in with a little pain in your side, your doctor's going to tell you you need gallbladder surgery...at the hospital they own. Plus they get sweet deals where they're hired to be "consultants " for nursing homes, with the threat that if they are not given these high-paying non-job jobs that they will NOT recommend patients go to these specific places.
It should be noted, btw, that Texas has the toughest, most pro-doctor malpractice laws in the country. AND IT HASN'T HELPED LOWER COSTS AT ALL!!!!
Another big problem is the great variant in the level of service. Some doctors in some cities will say, Come back for a check-up every six months...Some will say, Come back every three months, for the same symptoms...The cities with the higher level of service tend to have the highest costs.
So, like I said the state of healthcare isn't all the fault of doctors, but, imo, it's about 20 percent their fault. At least.
To those of you are are IRATE! and INCENSED! over this post, let me just tell you that healthcare professionals say all of this about you as soon as you come through the door, and especially after you leave.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are "real" diseases that require treatment and Gryphen wasn't addressing those. He was addressing those of you who run to the doctor with every NORMAL ache, pain and sniffle that comes down the pike. Those of you who pay so much attention to yourselves and spend so much time staring into the mirror looking for something awry that you end up coming to the doctor because you just realized you have pink growths and little holes in your eyelids!!! Those are your PUNCTA, the opening to your tear ducts, and everyone has that little pink lump ... it's the vestigial remains of the third eyelid we used to have. Did you never look into the eyes of another human being?
I have friends and acquaintances who run to the Internet and plug in every symptom they've got, from their intermittent headache to their sore big toe, and by lumping them all together into one big symptomology they decide they have some rare metabolic disease. No, they have stress leading to occasional headaches, and a little normal aging in their joints that causes some osteoarthritis and makes your big toes hurt sometimes.
If you have a disease, take it to the doctor and follow his treatment advice. If you have a sore toe, a head cold, a headache or even the Swine Flu, give it a couple of days without obsessing over it to see if it doesn't get better on it's own. If it doesn't, or it gets worse, by all means see a doctor, but learn to trust your body a little bit!
I would like to see a poll taken. Do you know more hypochondriacs or people that don't see a doctor when ill? Bet the 'don't see a doctor' would win.
ReplyDelete'Dr Who' did your friend with the
ReplyDeleteholes in their brain ever get tested
for Lyme disease? Even with the symtoms doctors are usually reluctant
to order the test. The kit has to be
specially ordered (costs about $30.00)
but w'out it someone can go years
undiagnosed. If in areas where Lyme
dis. ticks aren't prevelant, medicos
will balk at testing for it. You've
got to insist, even if insurance doesn't cover it.
Sharon TN
I'd feel better if drs knew more about an individual patient, their diet, exercise routine, etc. If there was no acute or chronic condition that required a dr, the patient could be educated about lifestyle, diet, etc. which would be far more beneficial in the long run.
ReplyDeleteBut I digress. This is the US and the corporate powers that be will not permit such a sensible approach to our health, and neither will the AMA or any other part of the health care system that is run for profit.
Grandma68
Gryphen sounds like your Dr needs a change in careers
ReplyDeleteGryphen, it's weirdly funny how your doctor pal didn't tell you the real dirt. To "give" the "discounts" that the insurance companies demand, your doctor pal is "FORCED" to cover his/her losses by OVER charging uninsured patients. Here's the math:
ReplyDeleteHospital does 100 tests a year at a cost of $1,000 per test. Total cost to hospital is $100,000. But if 80 of the tests can only be billed $700 because of insurance company DEMANDS, then the remaining 20 tests have to make up the difference. That's right folks, those 20 tests are charged $2,200 PER test.
The hospital wins, the insurance company wins, the insured patient wins and the poor slob who pays his own tab gets a bill for DOUBLE the actual cost of the test.
This is not only legal, it is supported by Congress and will remain in the proposed new health care legislation. Why you ask can something so inherently unfair continue? psst.... ask a lobbyist.
Gryphen, physicians are special interests, too.
ReplyDeleteYou weren't on a soapbox. You were on a doctor's soapbox.
It's part of the picture. But that doesn't make a group of physicians the right starting point for national health care policy.
Finding mechanisms that control costs without denying necessary care is a complex issue, but absolutely essential if we are to avoid bankrupting our country. This is such a simplistic approach you presented....
I don't know what goes on in the rest of the world, but I know that what is described in this article doesn't describe me. Everyone I know has a co-pay which keeps us from visiting the doctor for a basic cold.
ReplyDeleteMy body will recover from a sore throat without any help from the doctor - but if I have strep throat it can lead to dangerous secondary conditions. And the splinter will come out eventually, but if I can't get it out myself I could be in a world or hurt (and possibly infection) if I don't go get it taken out. He totally oversells the "body will heal itself." The body can heal from a broken bone too, but I don't recommend it.
I'd like to suggest that the AMA do some public service announcements about symptoms to be concerned about and those not to be concerned about. About the dangers of inappropriate use of antibiotics - and what is appropriate.
And perhaps the AMA, along with the Heart Association, Diabetes Association etc. could look at the research without consider politics and egos and come up with exercise and nutrition recommendations that match the research (if intrigued by that statement, I recommend Good Calories/Bad Calories - not a diet book although the author probably could have made a lot more money if he marketed it as a diet book - he told the publisher no to that suggestion).
This guy has some good comments, observations and suggestions- but he blames the people, and speaks nothing of hte contribution of the medical profession. No one ever wrote their own prescription for an antibiotic. Doctors are overprescribing, not patients. Patients may be overdemanding, but I think a doctor should be able to stand up to a patient and say "I can't do that."
P.S.
The compelling reason is that the medication is not indicated. Charging someone for something they don't need to shut them up isn't providing health care, and it isn't providing sick care. It's buying job security.
Anon at 9:29. That's not how it worked at our former doctor. He used to charge $30 for a visit for every one. He then changed it to $60 for insured patients and $30 for uninsured, knowing that our copay would be $20 and he'd still get paid the $30 from the insurance. Needless to say, we left and found a doctor who was more honest about his rates.
ReplyDeleteI have a BIG problem when doctors put ALL seeming "overly concerned" patients into one catagory.
ReplyDeleteHere is an example....I took my infant son to our doctor over and over, telling him that something was not "right" with my son. He would tell me that I was an "over anxious mother"...and he put ME on medication!!! I, then, took him to another doctor. He told me that I was sooo right. He immediately put him into the hospital and called a neurosurgeon to check him. My son had a Medulablastoma located on his brain stem. It was found to be a cancerous brain tumor that could not be removed. My precious son died 2 years later. So, was I wrong in repeatedly taking him to the doctor? I don't think so!!!!
to Anon at 8:48 re: high cholesterol and wanting to get off Lipitor.
ReplyDeleteI take Red Yeast Rice, a plant based statin (Nature's Plus, 600 mg/1.7% total monacolins - important to see 1.7% total monacolins on the label). My doctor wanted to prescribe Lipitor for me also, but I said I would try the Red Yeast Rice first. He agreed to a 60-day trial and then we would retest and review. When tested again, my HDL and LDL and triglicerides were all within the "normal" range.
So I highly recommend this to all who wish to stop taking chemical statins. It worked for me, my husband, many friends, and other family members. My doctor was very impressed and I believe he now recommends it to other patients as an alternative to Lipitor and other chemical statins.
I have a very wise doctor for someone so young :)
Anonymous @ 8:48 AM who said this, "Since I don't work any more, I don't get enough exercise, which is a problem, but no one wants a 69 yr old these days. I've changed drs to try to get off Lipitor which the old dr wanted to test my liver for 3 times a yr!" I hear ya!
ReplyDeleteIt's a vicious cycle, now that I too have gotten up into my mid-60s. I was born with a curved spine which never was treated adequately as I matured, but I dealt with it by staying active walking, hiking, riding horseback.
That is, until 15 years ago when I twisted wrong in a SWIMMING POOL of all places, and was laid up for months barely able to move out of bed, hobbling everywhere I went. I gained weight because I couldn't exercise, but finally I got to the point where my back was stronger. By then, though, it was under chronic strain because I was heavier than before.
Add to that the strain on my heart because of the additional weight, and I can barely get up the stairs in our house or walk a block without being out of breath.
All of which makes it even MORE difficult to get exercise, which is really the only thing I can do to get my weight down, because I prepare meals for our family that are from scratch, without added salt, are low fat, high in vegetable intake, etc. etc., and we watch our portion control.
So, I am a victim/user of Lisinopril and Lipitor, because my family history includes both high blood pressure and plaque-induced stroke. Happy days. I hate the muscle aches and pains Lipitor causes, which makes even the meager amount of exercise I do get excruciating.
Round and round I go. Do I want to die of overweight, stroke, a heart attack, or what? I suppose I'm lucky I only have 4 Rx medications to take.
"... that EVERY doctor he has shown it to also agreed..."
ReplyDeleteAH, it becomes clearer now. The people that AGREED are seeing only the pampered pets of the health care world, those blessed with insurance. Of course the doctors view is distorted! They don't even TALK to people that can't afford a doctor.
P.S. I am one of those people who reluctantly see their doctor once every year for an annual physical, mainly because he won't renew my measly 4 medications without that visit. And much as I hate them, I go through the annual pelvic exam and mammography torture, too.
ReplyDeleteSo...my doctor's Rx for my weight problem is to consider bariatric surgery. Yeah, I've seen how that works for others who've had it. A small percentage keep the weight off and live that changed lifestyle; the great majority (including Rush Limbaugh) see a slimmer body for about 3-6 months, and go right back to their original weight because they've stretched their stomach out eating just like they used to.
Not to mention, the first time it was suggested to me, my insurance company wouldn't cover it -- in fact, that company wouldn't cover ANY obesity-related treatment, including Xenical and Meridia.
Now that I'm on Medicare, I haven't looked into the question of coverage for bariatric surgery, but it would be ironic if Medicare DID cover it, when the insurance industry has balked?
Good reading here: yes, it's so true, we are solely responsible for our bodies. At 52, a visit to the doctor found my blood pressure too high. At the next 3 month visit, it was again too high. He recommended high blood pressure pills. I didn't want to rely on something that clears up one problem but causes 100 other side effects. So I exercised more, read all the salt lables on every food package, cut down on fried foods, cut down my daily salt intake to the recommended daily intake. Back at the doctor's 3 months later, my blood pressure was normal, even a bit lower than normal.
ReplyDeleteThe food industry does not want people to know they saturate their packaged foods with way too much salt. Even some frozen chicken breasts are "seasoned" - one has to check the label making sure the meat has absolutely not been brined or seasoned.
Good point that a panel of physicians, nutritionists should have their say in the creation of a new health care program.
I agree with a lot of what was said here -- about self responsibility to eat well, getting off our ass, preventive care, not making a mountain out of every molehill, overuse of specialists, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs a health professional the other big issue I see that is NEVER talked about in this entire debate is care coordination--case management. The 80/20 rule at its best--80-90% of costs ae taken up by the top 10 or so of chronically ill. If we could get them better managed proactively with interdisciplinary care (a true "medical home")and someone to help guide them through the healthcare maze that would have a huge effect.
And having said all that I still think it is truly despicable what the Repubs are doing to block EVERYTHING in the way of reform, when they know their constituents desperately need help. How do they sleep at night?
So many stories here.....so many different points of view.
ReplyDeleteTo those commenters who think we aren't aware about real illnesses that plague many, that's not true. I posted Anon. here a few minutes ago (not posted yet) about how reducing salt help blood pressure.
I too have other health problems. But, we can only deal with one at a time. Try to fix one, then go on to the next one. I understand there are so many with diseases that can't be fixed with a change in diet.
However, another thing I observed when living in the U.S. Some MDs do not concern themselves with their patients' emotional state. Made an appointment with a specialist, because I had a few issues. The moment I walked in there, the staff started explaining what "tests" I needed to have before seeing the doctor. I was told I would be sent for these to rule out "cancer". This test was supposedly a screening that this doc's patients needed before he would even speak to each of them for a consultation.
The look on all those people in the waiting room was like they were waiting for their execution. The mood in there was to say the least depressing. I put my coat back on, outathere. This crass new young pro was only concerned about discovering the worst-case scenario and forcing screening on those who just wanted to be treated in a more conventional fashion. The nurse kept loosely using the "C" word every other sentence, and I could see people's face getting white. I kind of scolded them telling them they needed a better bedside manner.
This proves there are medical shucksters out there who care nothing about "people" and are in the medical field for profit only.
Just another point of view I'd offer.
hmmm, the running to the ER for non emergencies seems strange. But if it is happening too much, why don't they have right next to an ER a 24 hr. walk in clinic so the ER can be just for true emergencies. Wouldn't that cost less?
ReplyDeleteI never took my kids to the ER unless it was necessary, like stitches or one time our 3 yr old with an extremely high temp 105* that I could not keep down even with repeated tepid baths.
another time our son was accidentally struck in the forehead with a metal bat that was thrown, he had a huge bump on his forehead. I felt I'd be negligent if I didn't get a x-ray.
or when my father was having a stroke, fortunately I recognized the signs and got him there in time to take the med, if given soon enough, will stop a stroke.
I do have a brother in law who is an ER nurse in another state. He does complain about people who use the ER when they don't really need to, clogging it up, and complaining because they have to wait while priorities like gun shot wounds, car accidents, real emergencies are taken care of.
I also think sometimes people let a condition like a sinus infection get too serious before seeking help. I know of a woman who died because the infection was so bad and too close to her brain. Or walking pneumonia, I had a school mate die of that.
And I don't care how funny it sounds, when my dad went into surgery for a hip replacement, I wrote "this one" on the hip that needed it.
I also discovered there is a cool thing going on at some hospitals, where you can ban any negative, disrespectful or derogatory talk by the docs and staff working on you while unconscious in surgery. They have to comply or get in trouble. Apparently it can affect the recovery or outcome.
It makes sense to me, I'd rather OR staff focus on me as a patient during surgery and be professional while doing their job. Save the idle chit chat or people bashing or whatever for coffee breaks.
The hubby just lost his job, along with it affordable insurance. Now at 55 we're going without health insurance for the first time in our lives, no pap smear or mamo for me this year.
Thank goodness we are both in good health and our children are grown. But if a crisis were to occur, our retirement accounts could easily be wiped out in short order.
My DD when 4 years old back in the early 80's developed a huge bullseye rash that could come and go in the blink of an eye,pain when she stood up that made her cry,opening the window shades or turning on the lights caused her to scream from the pain.She lost weight until she looked like a stick figure.She could not eat without throwing up.After 3 visits to her pediatrician,he told me to get her anexorcism,to fix me,because I must be causing her to hysterically manifest these symptoms.His receptionist slipped me the name and number of her childs ped--I called,and went in that day.The Dr walked into the waiting room from the outside door as I was checking her back for the rash--he saw it and exclaimed"Lymes Disease!!" He took us right in and had blood drawn and ran the test.It was maybe the first case of Lymes in NJ,but he had just left a seminar in Connecticut and new what it was.My DD was left with major arthritis problems and some kidney issues.
ReplyDeleteMy point? Not all Drs are wonderful.Making a mistake is one thing,not keeping current,treating patients and parents as nuts,being more interested in treating common colds than a serious disease are justb wrong.I am sure that their are more good Drs than bad,but they certainly bare their share of responsibility.
I am curious who this "we" is. Even when I have employer insurance I go to a doctor's once a year, because I have to to get a perscription for my asthma inhaler. That's it. I went to a limp in at christisma becasue my brother's cat bit me while we were trying to get her into her carry cage and may hand swelled up and turned purple.
ReplyDeleteThe last physical was 2005 and the last limp in clinic was 2006.
The people I work with, and I work in a hospital, come to work unless they are can't get out of bed or away from the bathroom.
Keep in mind that doctors only see the people who come to them, they don't see the people who don't come to them, even when we are sick or injured. We slap a bandaid on it or chug some pepto and we go to work or go to class or whatever we need to do we go do.
Considering that several first world countries have free or heavily subsidized health care why do they not have the problems that this physician is accusing Americans of?
ReplyDeleteThey may be healthier since they get good preventive care. But since they are the same genetic stock as most Americans physically and mentally aren't they are probably just as apt to abuse a free system as we are an expensive system? So the logic fails when you compare the costs of medical care here and elsewhere.
Tort reform is another major insurance scam issue. Texas used its tort reform law to screw the injured patient, the physicians' insurance still went up and the insurance companies won comming and going. They charged physicians more but were paying out only a fraction of actual monetary harm.
"The problem is that people EXPECT to be ill and go to the emergency room for every little ailment."
ReplyDeleteGryphen I usually agree with you 99% of the time but the above statement is absolutely untrue and is basically a load of crap.
ER's are full of people with heart attacks, strokes, cancer, sever lacerations, deliberate and accidental overdoses, head trauma, hemorrhages of various origins, diabetic crisis, vomiting blood, miscarriages, you name it. The people who you are referring to mostly exist in your imagination.
I work in a hospital lab, I go to ER to draw blood, the vast majority of people in ER need medical attention. Many could be served in a lower intensity clinic if one is available, but they frequently aren't.
Just exactly where are the ill and injured supposed to go in your scenario. You sound like the Republicans sick people are just too damn much trouble they should shut up and die quietly.
Geeze guy go work in an ER for a few years and see what and ER staff actually has to work with.
I agree and disagree with that. It's those hypochondriacs who make doctors desensitized to real symptoms of real people with real health concerns.
ReplyDeleteSo then that makes the doctors not care and won't test you for anything if they don't have to. They don't take the time to listen, you are in and out in four minutes and charge you $200 for absolutely nothing. Remember the joke about "take an asperin and call me in the morning?" It's still like that.
I'm not saying they have to spend thousands on tests. Our doctors here won't send you for 30,000 in tests without good reason to. I'm not sure where that lady lives who said that above. Not in my area.
I see all sides of the spectrum, it's patient, doctor, pharmaceutical ads, and insurance responsibility together.
A lot of doctors seem to want to treat the symptoms or ignore them rather than taking the time to really solve the condition causing that symptom. They just don't take the time to look at the overall picture. Please look at it both ways.
"Oh, you have high blood pressure, take these meds." Well, what's causing the high blood pressure? Maybe they have a condition that could be fixed that causes high blood pressure. But they can't solve the problem in that four minutes you are there, so it is faster to write up a prescription and send you out the door. They have 50 patients that day to get to. Move along, please.
What a crock. Every other industrialized country is capable of providing health care (and I used to live in one) without the soaring costs and ridiculous pill-pushing that goes on here. They also provided sick leave and more vacation time so workers aren't so stressed out that they require pills for insomnia, stress, depression and anxiety. If your doctor thinks we live in an unhealthy country, then I agree. But not for the reasons he mentions.
ReplyDeleteI have to add one more comment:
ReplyDeleteMy 8 yr old son started vomiting on a Saturday night with no fever. It seemed to get worse, not better. I waited a day or two considering he was drinking fluids and had no fever. By Monday he was breathing heavy and looked very pale. I decided to take him to doctor.
I called Monday right when the office opened. His doctor couldn't take anyone without an appointment and the soonest I could get with anyone in the clinic was Wednesday with a NP.
I decided to take him to the small town ER instead of waiting. Something told me to go and go now. My husband yelled at me, that I was a nervous mother, there's nothing wrong, He has a stomach bug, yada yada.
My son ended up airlifted by helicopter from the ER to another hospital that had a pediatric ICU -- Come to find out that he had Type 1 diabetes, undiagosed, and was so bad that it was near organ failure. They say he may have had only hours. His BS was in the high 900s.
All this in three days. He seemed like a perfectly healthy kid before that. If I hadn't brought him in, at that moment, who knows -- I don't want to think about it. My husband still feels guilty about trying to talk me out of bringing him in. He was in the hospital for over a week. He's fine now, thank goodness.
Any nervous mothers out there, ignore what Gryphen and others say, trust your instincts and bring them in ASAP. Go to the ER -- You never know!
I agree with Anon. 12:14 - and actually, it only takes a few hours of sitting in an ER waiting room to have one's precious preconceptions rocked. Hypochondriacs and pantywaists? - wow - nothing like painting things with a broad brush.
ReplyDeleteLots of great comments and points of view. I TOTALLY disagree with anon@12:14 - our ER's are absolutely clogged with inappropriate usage. I am NOT blaming the patients. These are individuals who could easily be seen and treated in an urgent care faciity, or physician's office...not at ER!
ReplyDeleteIt's a catch 22 - people don't have insurance so they wait and wait and then they go to an ER. I am not saying that no one should visit an ER, but the word is EMERGENCY, not ear infection x4 days. I don't know about other areas, but we have a doc in a box on about every 3rd mile here. They are great for quick treatment for accidents and illnesses that do not require the full-on ER whole-9-yards.
RE: Tort Reform. True tort reform would only take care of a maximum of about 10% of health care costs. It's a red herring. Of course it is something that should be done but it isn't the magic bullet people seem to believe.
I am not saying it is right, but doctors are human beings. Mistakes can happen. The difference being that a mistake impacts a life if you are a physician - if you are an Administrative Assistant, you simply retype. It's the impact of the mistake or error that is so horrible in the case of medicine. And I'm sorry, it is doubtful that doctors go around causing human damage because they are sloppy. As someone said above, a bad outcome is not necessarily malpractice.
Most malpractice can be eliminated if a physician simply talks clearly to a patient and explains what is being done, or what will happen, and what to expect. A good bedside manner is required in today's healthcare. A lack of communication can cause all types of horrible things, especially with a patient's family.
I don't think there is one answer. I do know that doctors no longer can receive "perks" from bigPharma. But I also don't know doctors who prescribe just because they get a free coffee cup.
We just need to clean it all up. bigPharma, insurance costs, clerks making medical determinations with no medical education or training, and CEO's who collect $26Mil a year for NOT paying claims. They contribute to our skyrocketing costs as well.
But it never hurts to also try and be good to yourself, eat reasonably health (3 cheers to the person who said STOP EATING SALT - it takes a bit of getting used to, but the taste of food without it is pretty good too!), do NOT overhydrate (many women drink too much water and pee away electrolytes and potassium), exercise as much as you can whether it is walking, treadmill, swimming, anything that you are able to do. Don't smoke. Eat more veggies and fruits if possible. Integrate things other than red meat into your diet. Cut down on caffeine....we all know the right things to do. We just tend to cut corners on things.
If you are reasonably healthy and generally follow things in moderation, you are doing the best you can for your body. You cannot avoid genetics or true serious illness necessarily, but you can certainly help yourself feel better and a strong body does help fight of lots of minor illnesses.
Sorry for the soapbox - but it seems like everyone here really is just trying to do the right thing! We all want to stay healthy and live long productive lives. I'm always open to other people's advice and thanks to everyone for great suggestions!
Also, keep in mind one other thing- the reason medications and treatments are so high. Insurance companies have essentially given a blank check to prescription drug companies. They can charge whatever they like... because if the doctor writes a script for the med, and the patient agrees to pay for the copay, well... why not charge $200 a pill on a medication that costs $0.45 to make? The insurance company will pay for it.
ReplyDeleteThis is not universally true. Insurance companies have fought this by dictating what they will and will not cover. Some require pre-authorizations from the doctors (meaning the doctor has to call up the insurance company and argue that their patient really needs this med). Some require you attempt an alternative therapy and fail to produce results before they pay for that medication. (such as trying Prilosec before using Nexium). Some flat out refuse to pay for the med for any reason whatsoever.
But, when an overwhelming majority of patients look at medication costs in terms of their copays (take Medicare part D for example- copays range from $.55 to $40, with the vast majority of copays being in the $1 range), why should they care if a doctor is prescribing a $2000 prescription for heart burn?
I hurt my rotator cuff while visitng relatives in CA. It was so bad, that I had to use my left arm to raise my right arm to shake hands. I had to take extra-strength Tylenol to sleep, because my shoulder throbbed with pain. People told me how they had to get shots, and months of therapy when this happened to them. I started thinking of things I had been doing that may have caused this problem, etc. Went online, read some blogs, information, etc. Well the bottomline is I started using warm pads on my neck, did neck exercises, and found physical therapy exercises online for my arm/shoulder. In two days, I was almost as good as new. It's been a solid month now, and I am just fine. I did not run to the clinic where they would have prescribed expensive meds, and the services of a physical therapist.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who has spent years on pain meds for a once fractured foot. She went to a Reiki specialist recently. After one seesion the relief was so amazing, that she is now going to Qigong classes to get her "energy" flowing. Many people do spend a lot of time sitting, and sedentary these days.
ReplyDeleteGood conversation here. We all agree there are serious illnesses that need attention. I think some people rush to the clinic or doctor for anything, everything - from colds, skin tags, ingrown hairs, sprained ankles to a stubbed toe. There probably is room to prevent or reverse some of the serious illnessses by lifestyle changes.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be too hard on Gryphen. I think his observations are correct. It's one of many aspects in the health care maze where some people might abuse the ER system.
ReplyDeleteJust an example. In our little town, the ER can be empty pretty much during the afternoon. At 5:30 pm right on the mark, it starts filling in with seniors, like clockwork. Am not saying they don't need the care; but, it makes one chuckle. In our community, small town with a lot of elderly people, the usual suppertime is spot on 5:00 pm. That gives them time to eat, clean up and drive to the local ER. They can be seen sitting there chatting up a storm with the other locals. Now, this doesn't happen everyday, but it is a pattern that we've seen. It's just funny to see them pour in right after mealtimes; because it appears they aren't too sick to miss their mealtime. I'd still encourage them to go though. One never knows.
Hoping that more communities will open non-emergency clinics, that would keep ER's tending to real emergencies.
I think Doctors need to give you notice up front when they own the diagnostic facilities.
ReplyDeleteI had an ear problem and went to an ear specialist who promptly sent me for a CAT scan. He also recommend surgery. So I got a second opinion. Two doctors later I found out the scan was a waste of resource because it could not pick up the problem I had.
I later found out that the first doctors owns the scan facility.
I think Doctors should be well paid but owning facility should be disclosed. CNN was running a story about McAllen, TX that has diagnostic facilities all over the place and some really high costs.
I would suspect that most of us have some insurance and the means to pay for office visits. I am guessing this because we have computers, are on line, and are literate. The major problems with overuse of ER's is by those who cannot afford an office visit. They go to an ER that cannot refuse them. They also may be putting off a condition that regular checkups would have found.
ReplyDeleteIt is for these people that we need universal health care. This could be a big savings in our total health care expenditure.
There are many things that are wrong and right with our current system. It is interesting that so many people have responded to this posting.
For profit healthcare is simply immoral. As long as insurance companies primary motivation is to maximize shareholder returns and CEO pay, Americans will suffer. The sooner we admit that and scrap the whole damn system, the better off we will be.
ReplyDeleteDick Armey was crowing at CPAC about how we still have the "best healthcare system in the world!" By what metric, Dick?
Affordability? No.
Coverage? No.
Infant mortality? No.
Life Expectancy? No.
When we are at or near the top of those categories we can boast, until then we are not the best, we just suck.
I am a physician, and also agree with your friend, and your post. I have not had a chance to read all the comments yet, but I did want to let you know, that though docs do get pens, mugs, the occasional box of golf balls, the days are long gone that we get wined and dined, or have a trip financed. Thankfully, the marketing efforts are more regulated now, and even a meal must be accompanied by an educational presentation.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to comment on the use of ERs by those on Medicaid. There is a ton of abuse and misuse by that population. Some is due to the payment by Medicaid being too low for community physicians to take high numbers of Medicaid patients. Some is due to a misunderstanding of when help is needed, and some is blatant abuse. An example: I had a patient come in frequently to the ER with complaints of belly pain or nausea - it was eventually determined that she just wanted a pregnancy test. Instead of shelling out $5 at the drug store monthly, she came in and ended up receiving hundreds of dollars of medical care.
Anyway, love your site - good post today.
The medical community has been controlled for decades by drug companies, they do what those corporations tell them to do and believe what they are being told by them is the truth. Those vacations and gifts they receive help to sway them. Doctors have promoted the use of medications, were not even taught nutrition in medical school until recently, told people not to take vitamins until recently, prescribe addicting drugs because it is easier/less time consuming than teaching another way to control pain. They don't read research and make their own decisons and many are gender biased and abusive to people with certain health issues. Most people are seeking information when they go to a doctor and instead get a visit of about 5 minutes which is not enough time to teach healthy habits or why they should exercise, change their diet, or just let an infection run it's course. I have severe health problems and my best medicine is a healthy diet, exercise, rest, and nutritional supplements. No doctor told me about this, I figured it out myself, they made me very ill with medications when I first got really sick. I do sometimes have to take meds, but they are a last resort. The health care system in the US rewards doctors for keeping people sick, we need it the other way around. BTW, there is considerable evidence that eating a low fat diet is a medical myth. It is the sugar and especially corn products such as corn syrup made even worse since Monsanto's genetically altered corn which causes liver and kidney disease is in almost everything, foods with all the nutrition proceesed out and chemicals added, the hormones and antibiotics added to meat, and improperly fed animals which screws up the balance of omegas that are the problems. The original research was misinterpreted and we have many societies who eat high fat diets and have very little heart disease. Of course those with familial genetic issues are an exception. Remember those drug companies are in control, they want to sell those cholesterol lowering drugs and the low fat industry wants to stay in business too.
ReplyDelete"hmmm, the running to the ER for non emergencies seems strange. But if it is happening too much, why don't they have right next to an ER a 24 hr. walk in clinic so the ER can be just for true emergencies. Wouldn't that cost less?"
ReplyDeleteUrgent care clinics aren't obligated to treat people who can't pay, but hospitals cannot legally turn anyone away, even if they know ahead of time the person cannot or will not pay. Even if the patient is a "frequent flyer" in that emergency room with an outstanding bill as long as your arm, they have to be seen. The cost of emergency room care ... the staff, the space and the supplies ... is extremely high, and yet people waste those resources all the time because they are either uninsured or don't want to pay the co-pay they'll be charged by their physician in his office.
Case in point, this evening there was a healthy 27-year-old who presented to the ER with the complaint of "heartburn." Now the ER docs are obligated to run a battery of tests to rule out what they already know ain't there ... test that will cost a small fortune ... because this guy ate a pizza and couldn't bother to buy a package of antacids.
And this is not an isolated incident. These patients come in night after night with complaints like "balls itch." Please.
I've worked for three doctors, and every one of them was dismissive and contemptuous of anybody else's health concerns! Your doctor friend demonstrates the prevelant attitude perfectly.
ReplyDeleteIn general, we can't GET health care, with or without insurance. Wait weeks with an ulcerated body part for an appointment, or chest pains, and see a doctor for six minutes, who barely acknowledges you, tells you to use neosporin (gee, never thought of that for the last six weeks) or that your numb limb or heart palpitations are all in your head.
I'm recounting friends' experiences, since I don't have health care and haven't seen a doctor in more than ten years, despite having severe RA and all the attendant medical problems. I tried to get some -- but hey, pre-existing conditions!
There were once people who took advantage of having medical care -- but those days came to an end quite some time ago. About the time that insurance carriers began refusing to cover ordinary doctor's visits and treatments, and raising rates on people who made too many appointments.
Your doctor friend (and please, Gryphon, let this post, even if it isn't in full support of your point of view!) is pushing a POV that is reactionary in the extreme.
It has as much validity in this day and age as Limbaugh and Beck's golden memories of 'how it used to be, back when things were good.' It is NOT true, and anybody with an older family member who does remember when they could just pop off to the doctor's office can attest to that. We have to tell them they cannot go, because the co-pay and meds will eat into the house payment. And besides, there's every chance that the bill would be denied.
Doctors are not our friends in the HCR debate; their way of life would change drastically, and being a member of such an entrenched layer of our society, they DO NOT WANT change. They are comfortable as they are.
They are conservatives. Entitled conservatives, with position and social standing they fear could be lost.
Please, don't ask us to support a view of life -- and US! -- that is comparable to the relationship between the CEOs of banks and the ordinary savings depositor. Because that is, very much, what our relationship with the medical profession is at the moment.
Your friend was describing the past. It has nothing to do with the present, but he certainly does not want the future that he envisions under HCR.
Sandra says: "I would suspect that most of us have some insurance and the means to pay for office visits. I am guessing this because we have computers, are on line, and are literate."
ReplyDeleteWow.
What does owning a computer, being online and being literate have to do with having insurance? If that's the criteria, would you please contact Blue Cross/Blue Shield and let them know they denied me coverage erroneously?
I lost my employer-provided insurance two and a half years ago when I was among the office staff reduced to part-time without benefits. I live in a rural area where medical/technical jobs like mine are few and far between, so I'm now among the growing ranks of the underemployed. I tried to buy insurance from my existing provider (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and was turned down for a pre-existing condition ... hypertension. They'd been covering me for years through my employer, but this was their opportunity to stop. Now, having been turned down by them, I'm uninsurable. Not illiterate, not unemployed, not lazy, not living on welfare ... just middle-aged and underemployed in the medical field. And no, I don't get any "professional courtesy" discounts, either.
Gryphen, Would you like to hear from the other end of the spectrum, about the hateful and obnoxious treatment so many "doctors" and their staff use to get rid of low income patients IE: Those with Medi-Care/ Medi_Cal cards? I have both and can no longer find a "doctor" to write my prescriptions, they tell me I am not COST EFFECTIVE to spend one of their 3 minute office calls on once a year so I can just go ahead and die. I guess I will soon, I am running out of time and too damned tired of begging for my life to people who don't respond or give a shit!
ReplyDeleteBTW, being a retired nurse I hated going to the doctor even once a year for bloodwork to get my prescriptions and most of the problems I have had with drs. has been not wanting to take every new drug his supplyer is pushing curently. Just give me the two prescriptions I need renewable for a year and leave me alone until next year.
This is my last post unless I get a response, I'm tired of talking to the wind.
This is an interesting post that reminded me I need more exercise and it generated many thoughtful and varied comments. Surely there are some (perhaps, many) hypochondriacs and pantywaists in the U.S. but, good grief, I doubt we can place primary blame for skyrocketing health care and health insurance costs on the public.
ReplyDeleteThere are people dying for lack of health care. Let's get them some affordable health insurance coverage and then tackle reforming the actual health care system. Can we please get the pharmaceutical companies out of the medical schools and out of the advertising business?
Kathryn - Excellent point about the helpfulness of qualifying words such as "SOME".
Bonnes santes everyone!
Gryph, A stimulating article, indeed. My husband was the healthiest person in the world, but never hesitated if I or the kids needed to go the doctor. Our oldest had heart surgery at 2 (Patent ductus arteriosis..blue baby). We live in the "Strep Belt" of Colorado so numerous sore throats and 3 T&A's with that. He was a REAL rocket scientist and when the Cold War ended, so did his job. He retired at 55 and company offered him a buy-out with FULL-LIFETIME health insurance. We traveled the world and spoiled the grandkids! 6 years into retirement he was diagnosed with nonHodgkins Lymphoma of everybone, both kidneys and metastesized to the brain. 8 chemos, radiation, brain surgery and finally a new wonder drug Rituxin at $10,000 a dose x 4, the cancer was contained. He lost his hearing from one of the chemos and had a cochlear implant. He had a stroke coming out of that surgery. He has had 9 smaller ones since. He now has dememtia and cysts in his brain from all the radiation. His cancer treatment was over $2 million! 3 1/2 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was found on a routine mammogran. Was caught early and would require a simple lumpectomy and 7 weeks of radiation and would be A-OK! 6 days later the surgeon called and said she had made a mistake because the radiologist had put the wire in the wrong tumor. Had 3 biopsies and two were benign. Now with these biopsies, each one had a metal marker put in..each a different shape. She knew where the cancer was but still took out the wrong lump cutting into the cancer and spreading it! She said she needed to do a mastectomy and I woud need chemo and radiation and hoped they could stop it. I called my husbands' oncologist and asked if he could take my case and recommend a good surgeon! He was able to remove to cancer with another lumpectomy and intensified chemo and 5 days, twice a day radiation treatments equal to 7 weeks. My treatment was over $186,000. Insurance covered it all. Now we are on Medicare. Just got the bill for his 5 days in the hospital for his 9th TIA and bladder infection...$43,528.26! That was 3 days of IV antibiotics, an EEG to see if he was having small seizures and 8 hours in the emergency room...$4,488for labs, $5,187.97 for Emerg room, $4,443 for CT scan and many other labs, PT,OT and Speech therapy, but $10,609.20 for Observation... waiting for a room to be cleaned to admit him. They said we needed home health care as I can no longer care for him as I'm now in a walker and loosing the use of my hands and legs and can't stand for more than 3minutes. The nurse, PT and OT have been out telling me what I needed to do to take care of him! I know how to take care of him but can no longer physically do it.
ReplyDeleteDo we need health care reform? We were healthy before they took over, but with cancer, etc. you need to go to the doctor and the ER! Our 18year old grandson just had a hip replacement due to cancer of the hip. He had no insurance and will spend the rest of his life paying off the #180,000 hospital bill. Can not now get insurance because of pre-existing condition! His sister just had an emergency appendectomy and no insurance...both are in college! Wake up America, we need health care reform. Seems Congress had slipped in a bill by Sen.Dr.Bill Frist that you could not sue your doctor for more than $300,000. Talked with 50 lawyers, nonewould take my case. I didn't spill coffee on my lap and this wasn't frivolous! I'm in pain 24/7 as I have 3 broken ribs from the radiation that won't heal, it has exascerbated my post-polio syndrome and my spine is deteriorting and will be in wheel chair soon. Please excuse the type o's, cant use spell check in this format.
Mrs. Gunka
GKerry, don't stop posting. It's Grypehn who's confused and starting to make lame excuses. And no matter whether you think you are being ignored or not, remember that you're on the right side and the ones who don't support radical change already know that they are fighting a losing battle. Shame on Gryphen for not recognizing the huge number of people jsut like you.
ReplyDeleteGryphen,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that emergency room visits are too often abused. My stupid boyfriend actually went to the ER because he had a cut on his finger that had not healed after a week. He did not have any symptoms which warranted a visit to the ER. I tried to talk him out of going and told him to wait until Monday to see his doctor if he felt he needed it, but the idiot insisted on going. He was being so irrational and could not see why he should wait to see his doctor.
Finally, I gave up. He went to the ER and waited over three hours to see a doctor who told him it was just a cut and it would heal on its own. THEN he complained for the rest of the evening about how much time he wasted at the ER waiting to see someone. DUH!! Needless to say, I had to go back to my house for the rest of the evening, because I just couldn't listen to him whine anymore.
It still riles me up to talk about it.
This is purely anecdotal evidence, and as such it's meaningless. If anything, being a doctor skews your friend's perception of the problem.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are hypochondriacs out there. There are also lots of people like me, people who only go to the doctor kicking and screaming--in my 50 years I've been to a doctor exactly twice. If you think about it, which kind of patient is a GP most likely to see? The hypochondriac (with good insurance) makes 1000 visits for every one of mine. Some doctors begin to assume everyone is a hypochondriac. Perhaps your doctor friend falls into this category.
Of course anything that adds unnecessary cost is a problem, but one has to look at statistics to know how significant it is.
I've never found good statistics that directly address this question, but I can tell you this:if you look at international statistics, what you'll find is that in countries with socialized health solutions, patients make more doctor visits, and are hospitalized more often. Their out of pocket costs are of course much lower. The surprise comes when you look at overall cost--their overall health care costs are much lower. Costs in the USA are staggering compared to many of these other countries, even though their citizens see doctors more frequently, and don't directly bear the cost of visits.
The right wants us to believe that if health care was free, everyone would spend all their free time at the clinic, because, you know, it's just so much fun to strip down to your underpants and sit on a table while strangers poke and prod you. Don't forget the added bonus of sitting in a waiting room for two hours filling out forms.
Health care is a really complicated issue. Seeing blanket statements like the one in your title makes me cringe.
Gryphon, there are a lot of people responding who are being very honest with you. Our medical system is broken -- we are either treated badly by doctors educated under a system instigated by insurance interests or refused coverage altogether. The disconnect comes at the profit line.
ReplyDeleteAmericans, as a group, do not overuse the medical system. We prefer to avoid it, as we have lost all faith in the priviledged people that serve it. All we ask is that when we are in need, the system that we finance provide the care it has promised.
I think it might be a good idea to publish a sensible counterpoint article -- you'd definitely get traffic!
I've seen people taken to the ER by ambulance to get a hangnail looked at, and made a scene with the triage nurse because of the low priority, so I know these cases exist.
ReplyDeleteReading the comments shows that we need to take charge of our own health care, and we have to ask questions and demand that all options are explained to us.
My ball of wax includes my own chronic pain syndrone brought on by three failed back surgeries after being told it's all in my head. I led an exemplary life of good nutrition, weight management, regular exercise etc. And still I ended up, at 40 years of age permanantly disabled, with high blood pressure and diabetes.
My father went to the doctor regularly and was as healthy as an ox. He presented with a dull ache in his stomach and acid reflux at 64 years of age. His doctor recommended a bland diet and over the counter antacids. It didn't help. The doctor told him it was all in his head.
His second opinion doctor agreed, It's all in your head, try raising the head portion of your bed and take prevacid. Finally a third doctor had some sense schedule an mri and some other tests. Long story short, Stage 4 Colon Cancer that had metasticized to the liver, spleen and bones, chemo, radiation, kidney failure and eight long years of suffering later, he passed away at home under hospice care.
The way things are set up need to be changed. Doctors need to go back to doctoring and not managing costs for the insurance companies.
When you get a bill, ask for an itemized one, and go over each and every item with a patient advocate. See what your insurance covers and Talk to the hosptial administator when you find discrepencies. His bills were constantly "mis coded" to the amout of 22k, and appealing it with the insurance company was an ordeal in itself.
We need health care reform more than ever.
What Gryphen is stating is a reworking of two adages; "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", and "A stitch in time saves nine." Luckily, I'm Canadian, and from a province that funds health care very well. As far as prevention, last month, I received a note from my doctor stating that the travelling mammogram bus would be visiting my small northern community; headed in for my mammogram, results were sent to my doctor and to me. This week, its radiology's turn, and the equipment for testing for osteoporosis is in. Screening for all over 50. (I'm sixty.) One hospital emergency room recently instituted using a psychologist to counsel those who constantly returned to ER for mysterious chest pains; it was found that a large number suffered anxiety attacts, etc. Enrolling them in counselling sent ER visits plummeting. Our pharmacists have had their scope widened to renew or order some drugs without having to visit the docrot. Our province recently negotioned the lowest costs for generic drugs in North America. This is all through our single payer insurance system. We live longer, visit doctors less frequently, and take fewer drugs than our neighbours to the south.
ReplyDeleteAs well, my physician, who I see once a year for my annual, and rarely in between, is committed to prevention, guiding me through quitting smoking, losing weight, developing a good exercise program, lowering my blood pressure and cholesterol without drugs. Because we work together, we have a truly healthy, respectful pt/dr relationship.
I'm with you.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I listened to an interview with golfer John Daily (possibly on NPR). The man was on a Palin-esque diet, consuming little more than cigarettes and diet soda. He said when this diet catches up with him, he'll go to the doctor and get a pill to fix him.
Sorry Daily, but there is not a pill to fix that kind of stupid behavior.
Everyone needs to take responsibility for their own wellness. And you can do that no matter what your health situation.
"But if you are really treating your body as if you want it to last a long time, then most of the time your checkups will be drama free. You will have been engaging in "health care" all along and if the doctor does find something which requires his expertise he will find that your body is capable of making a fast recovery."
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. I did volunteer work with a young woman, slim and trim, she did 100 mile bike rides for fun, belonged to as semi pro team.
Almost literally in one day she became seriously diabetic. She had to eat almost constantly, veggies and some fruit, in order to keep her blood sugar at a proper level.
She had done everything right, there was a glitch in her metabolism that made her reject her own insulin, accourdingt you and your Md friend I guess it all her own fault and please don't bother a busy Md or a busy ER just go home and die quietly.
Spectacularly amazing work Gryphen! I have stared at those pictures of the Johnstons holding that newborn and thought something was wrong. It just does not look like he has downs syndrome. Just when everyone including SP thought nothing else could be gleaned from the pictures you notice a tiny detail and blow it all up again. I love it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteGKerry, don't stop posting.
5:16 PM
Just for you Anon, hope you will pass this information arround.
-----------------------------------
Gryphen, Show these stats to your egocentric, greedy, demigod DEATH SQUAD DOCTORS and ask them how many people have they killed?
Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.
Cause 250,000 Deaths Every Year .... and the real reason for high medical costs is greedy, incompetant doctors!!!
By Joseph Mercola, D.O.
-----------------------------------
Deaths per year Cause
106,000 Non-error, negative effects of drugs2
80,000
Infections in hospitals10
45,000
Other errors in hospitals10
12,000
Unnecessary surgery8
7,000 errors in hospitals9
.................................
250,000 Total deaths per year from iatrogenic* causes
* The term iatrogenic is defined as "induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially to pertain to a complication of treatment."
Another analysis11 concluded that between 4 percent and 18 percent of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings, with:
116 million extra physician visits
77 million extra prescriptions
17 million emergency department visits
8 million hospitalizations
3 million long-term admissions
199,000 additional deaths
$77 billion in extra costs
The high cost of the health care system is considered to be a deficit, but it seems to be tolerated under the assumption that better health results from more expensive care. However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as many as 20 to 30 percent of patients receive inappropriate care. An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among these patients die each year as a result of medical errors.2
This might be tolerable if it resulted in better health, but does it? Out of 13 countries in a recent comparison,3,4 the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. More specifically, the ranking of the U.S. on several indicators was:
13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages
13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall14
11th for post-neonatal mortality
13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)
11th for life expectancy, at 1 year for females, 12th for males
10th for life expectancy, at 15 years for females, 12th for males
10th for life expectancy, at 40 years for females, 9th for males
7th for life expectancy, at 65 years for females, 7th for males
3rd for life expectancy, at 80 years for females, 3rd for males
10th for age-adjusted mortality
The poor performance of the U.S. was recently confirmed by a World Health Organization study which used different data and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.
SEE THE FULL REPORT HERE http://www.naturodoc.com/library/public_health/doctors_cause_death.htm