Wichita Witch Hunt
The Justice Department wages war on pain relief.
No good deed goes unpunished when a private citizen is up against the federal drug warriors--those members of the Department of Justice who have been seeking, with increasing success in recent decades, to effectively control the practice of pain relief medicine. read the rest
H/T Instapundit
There is nothing about this story I find at all hard to believe. In 1982, the year my mother died from cancer that had metastasized to her bones, her doctor (bless his heart), prescribed Percodan to control the pain.
During this time her doctor was called before the pharmaceutical board three times to explain the large quantity of pain medication he prescribed.
According to him it would go something like this:
Pharmaceutical Board (PB): "So Doctor, can you explain the large amount of Percodan you are prescribing for patient A?"
Doctor (D): "Why yes. You see patient A has cancer that has spread to her bones and it's very, very painful."
PB: "I presume Doctor, you are aware Patient A could become addicted?"
D: "Since I don't expect Patient A to live too terribly much longer, that was not a factor when making my decision."
PB: "Are there alternatives you could be prescribing?"
D: "Hmmmmmmmm, yes. I could give her acetaminophen with codeine, which wouldn't work. Or I could give her morphine which would render her completely zonked and unable to have any awareness of her final months. I was sorta saving that for later when it was the last alternative."
PB: Well Doctor, we'll let it pass for now, but we've got our eye on you.
My Mom was gracious enough to die before the pharmaceutical board yanked the doctor's ability to prescribe pain medication for his patients or the DEA threw his sorry a** in jail (for being a wonderful doctor!)
How the government thinks: (I know - that's an oxymoron)
My Mom lived with us until her death. My husband and I were her primary caregivers. In her final few weeks I was desperately in need of a bit of help. I made it quite clear when I asked Medicare for a visiting nurse, a practical nurse was all that was necessary. Just someone to bathe her, give her breakfast, and stay with her while I did a few hours work at my hair salon.
Did I get help? Sure. A registered nurse who was paid approximately $10.00 more per hour. I repeatedly told them I didn't need a registered nurse. But guess what? The bureaucrats had decided they wouldn't pay $10.00 less per hour for a practical nurse. Only a registered nurse was covered.
Some of the time the nursing service didn't have a registered nurse to send. What did I get? A practical nurse who was "working as a registered nurse" and billed to Medicare at registered nurse rates. The practical nurse was unable to legally give injections, so it was my responsibility to give my Mom her morphine before I left for a few hours. And we wonder why Medicare is nearing bankruptcy?
Are these the folks you want making your health care decisions?
Related and Important:
Gateway Pundit: Media Silent As Obama Slashes $1.4 Billion From Medicare to Heart & Cancer Docs
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Two Lessons to be Learned
Natasha Richardson and Socialized Medicine
*****When the news first broke of the accident that precipitated the death of Natasha Richardson, my first thought was, "Why are they driving her around bumpy roads when it is clear she needs a chunk taken out of her skull in order to relieve the pressure that will surely kill her if left untreated?"
*****My second thought was, "Ah oh, she's in Canada (Quebec to be exact), and that doesn't bode well for her receiving the treatment she needs." Not because Canadian doctors are less well trained than other doctors, or care less about their patients. No, it's because Canada has socialized medicine, the very thing our current President wants to cram down our throats, and it doesn't work.
*****The average Canadian pays more in taxes to provide "free" health care than any private insurer would charge for the same level of care, which under the best of circumstances is pretty poor. If a Canadian can afford to come to the states to have needed tests or treatment, they do so. If they can't afford that option, oh well.
*****Natasha Richardson died because there was no helicopter available to fly her to a hospital that could run the necessary tests and drill a hole in her skull. I think as reports continue to come out over the next few days, my thoughts will be confirmed. Natasha was beyond help by the time she entered the second hospital in Montreal. She was simply put on life support and flown back to the states so her family could make their last farewells.
*****Is there an option to socialized medicine? Yes. Will it work? Yes. Will we ever see it? No. We won't see it because over the last 40 or 50 years, the people of this country have been led down the path of socialization which breeds dependency. It started with Aid to Women with Dependent Children, a system designed to provide medical care for (in most cases) women with children born out of wedlock. That was the first time our government became responsible for essentially rewarding bad behavior in the guise of "protecting the children." Then came the idea that businesses should be responsible for providing health care for its employees.
*****Now we have gotten to the point where our citizens think it is their "right" to have health care and most importantly, that someone else should foot the bill. News flash for all of you. Health care is not a "right." Our Constitution includes no references whatsoever for the provision of health care.
*****When I was a young girl, families paid for what was called a "catastrophic health care" policy. It was designed to cover, well, a catastrophe. If you needed to see a doctor for that vexing hangnail you acquired working in your garden, you paid for an office call with your money. Well, guess what? You figured out very quickly that trimming the hangnail yourself might be a good idea.
*****Now we have emergency rooms used as primary care facilities in order to treat that nasty hang nail. I have spoken to people who one would regard as being in the upper ranges of intelligence, who will look you in the eye and say, "but it's free!" No, it's not "free". We are all paying with lower wages and higher costs for products. And as costs go up, taxes go up, innovation goes down, equipment becomes old and obsolete, doctors become scarcer, and people die from hang nails for lack of a helicopter.
*****Get employers out of the health care business, return to a simple system of catastrophic coverage easily paid for (with money left over), out of the higher salary you will earn because your employer is not burdened with the cost and administration of your health care.
Second and Most Important Lesson
*****Natasha Richardson traveled to Quebec for a relaxing and fun vacation with her husband and children. She did not for one second think (I'm guessing) that on that beautiful morning when she hit the slopes it would be her last morning on earth. God told us we would not know the time of His second coming. We are also, in most cases, not going to know when our last day will happen. We are to be watchful and prepared.
*****Are we to live in fear? No, our faith should fill us with hope and gratitude for the gifts we have been given through grace. But we should be watchful and always remember that the end of our earthly existence may come when we least expect it.
*****In his spiritual exercises, Ignatius outlined two ways of making a good choice. The fourth rule of the second way is:
******I should picture and reflect on myself standing in the presence of my Judge on the last day, and consider what election (choice) in the present matter I would then wish to have made. I will now choose that rule of life that I would then wish to have observed, that on the day of judgement I may be filled with happiness and joy. Tetlow, Spiritual
Exercises, pp60-61
Socialized Medicine: The Canadian Experience
by Pierre Lemieux
read more
A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work
By DAVID GRATZER
Natasha Richardson and Socialized Medicine
*****When the news first broke of the accident that precipitated the death of Natasha Richardson, my first thought was, "Why are they driving her around bumpy roads when it is clear she needs a chunk taken out of her skull in order to relieve the pressure that will surely kill her if left untreated?"
*****My second thought was, "Ah oh, she's in Canada (Quebec to be exact), and that doesn't bode well for her receiving the treatment she needs." Not because Canadian doctors are less well trained than other doctors, or care less about their patients. No, it's because Canada has socialized medicine, the very thing our current President wants to cram down our throats, and it doesn't work.
*****The average Canadian pays more in taxes to provide "free" health care than any private insurer would charge for the same level of care, which under the best of circumstances is pretty poor. If a Canadian can afford to come to the states to have needed tests or treatment, they do so. If they can't afford that option, oh well.
*****Natasha Richardson died because there was no helicopter available to fly her to a hospital that could run the necessary tests and drill a hole in her skull. I think as reports continue to come out over the next few days, my thoughts will be confirmed. Natasha was beyond help by the time she entered the second hospital in Montreal. She was simply put on life support and flown back to the states so her family could make their last farewells.
*****Is there an option to socialized medicine? Yes. Will it work? Yes. Will we ever see it? No. We won't see it because over the last 40 or 50 years, the people of this country have been led down the path of socialization which breeds dependency. It started with Aid to Women with Dependent Children, a system designed to provide medical care for (in most cases) women with children born out of wedlock. That was the first time our government became responsible for essentially rewarding bad behavior in the guise of "protecting the children." Then came the idea that businesses should be responsible for providing health care for its employees.
*****Now we have gotten to the point where our citizens think it is their "right" to have health care and most importantly, that someone else should foot the bill. News flash for all of you. Health care is not a "right." Our Constitution includes no references whatsoever for the provision of health care.
*****When I was a young girl, families paid for what was called a "catastrophic health care" policy. It was designed to cover, well, a catastrophe. If you needed to see a doctor for that vexing hangnail you acquired working in your garden, you paid for an office call with your money. Well, guess what? You figured out very quickly that trimming the hangnail yourself might be a good idea.
*****Now we have emergency rooms used as primary care facilities in order to treat that nasty hang nail. I have spoken to people who one would regard as being in the upper ranges of intelligence, who will look you in the eye and say, "but it's free!" No, it's not "free". We are all paying with lower wages and higher costs for products. And as costs go up, taxes go up, innovation goes down, equipment becomes old and obsolete, doctors become scarcer, and people die from hang nails for lack of a helicopter.
*****Get employers out of the health care business, return to a simple system of catastrophic coverage easily paid for (with money left over), out of the higher salary you will earn because your employer is not burdened with the cost and administration of your health care.
Second and Most Important Lesson
*****Natasha Richardson traveled to Quebec for a relaxing and fun vacation with her husband and children. She did not for one second think (I'm guessing) that on that beautiful morning when she hit the slopes it would be her last morning on earth. God told us we would not know the time of His second coming. We are also, in most cases, not going to know when our last day will happen. We are to be watchful and prepared.
*****Are we to live in fear? No, our faith should fill us with hope and gratitude for the gifts we have been given through grace. But we should be watchful and always remember that the end of our earthly existence may come when we least expect it.
*****In his spiritual exercises, Ignatius outlined two ways of making a good choice. The fourth rule of the second way is:
******I should picture and reflect on myself standing in the presence of my Judge on the last day, and consider what election (choice) in the present matter I would then wish to have made. I will now choose that rule of life that I would then wish to have observed, that on the day of judgement I may be filled with happiness and joy. Tetlow, Spiritual
Exercises, pp60-61
Socialized Medicine: The Canadian Experience
by Pierre Lemieux
read more
A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work
By DAVID GRATZER
I was once a believer in socialized medicine. As a Canadian, I had soaked up the belief that government-run health care was truly compassionate. What I knew about American health care was unappealing: high expenses and lots of uninsured people. read more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)