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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Medical Care? - Canada Bad, America Great

 
OldFart is an American doctor who sometimes posts on M.D.O.D.. Here's what (s)he wrote last Friday [Natasha Richardson R.I.P.].
How do you think Natasha Richardson's family likes that socialized medicine in Canada??

Any 3rd year med student or an EMT worth his salt would know she was a set-up for an epidural hematoma. It is an incredibly classic story for it. And so easy to diagnose with an 8 second CT of the brain.

But in Canada I bet she was "put in queue" for a CT scan next week and had to fly to the US in order to get one in a real hospital's ED. But by then she was brain dead.

Still want Hussein's version of medicine here you fuckin' brain dead liberals?? Could save a lot of tax payor's dollars, huh? Everybody could get the "same access" to health care huh?

Just not when it's your family..

My prayers to Ms Richardson's family.
Every civilized country has socialized medicine because they think it's a fundamental right to get medical care without having to worry about how to pay for it. What is it about American doctors that they are so opposed to this concept?

M.D.O.D. is a group blog. Another American doctor, 911doc, has added this update ...
EDITOR'S NOTE: OLDFART POSTED BELOW A FEW HOURS AGO AND SITTING HERE IN BED WITH THE WIFE I LEARNED, IN THAT REPUTABLE MEDICAL JOURNAL 'PEOPLE MAGAZINE', THAT MRS. RICHARDSON HAD INDEED REFUSED TRANSPORT AND MEDICAL CARE AFTER WHAT WAS A MINOR FALL ON A 'BUNNY SLOPE' (ON WHICH SHE WAS NOT WEARING A HELMET).

THOUGH I TOO WONDERED IF THE 'QUEUE UP' PROBLEM WAS AT PLAY HERE IT EVIDENTLY WAS NOT, AND SO WHILE WE WILL NO DOUBT HAVE OTHER OPPORTUNITY TO COMPARE THE ACCESS TO EMERGENCY CARE IN SOCIALIZED COUNTRIES TO THE ACCESS TO EMERGENCY CARE HERE, THIS IS NOT THE CASE TO DO IT WITH.

I WILL ASK THIS QUESTION OF ANY CANADIAN PHYSICIANS WHO HAPPEN BY HOWEVER. HOW QUICKLY CAN ONE GET A CT OF THE BRAIN IN A CASE SUCH AS THIS WHERE THERE APPARENTLY WAS NO OBVIOUS TRAUMA AND THE ONLY COMPLAINT ONE HOUR AFTER THE FACT WAS A WORSENING HEADACHE? HOW ABOUT FOR A INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITY?
I'm also curious. How easy is it to get a CT scan in the first aid station at the bottom of a ski slope in either country? How often are CT scans performed in the small town local hospitals? In the USA does it matter whether you have insurance or would everyone be given a CT scan after banging their head? Do celebrity actresses get treated differently than single mothers earning $35,000 per year with no health insurance?

And what does Hussein have to do with medical care in Canada?


[Hat Tip: Pure Pedantry]

10 comments :

Anonymous said...

Why are US doctors against socialized medicine?

Hmmm. I wonder. I would go and ask one, but I'd probably get a bill for $2000.

Adrian said...

Interesting comment on that post:

I was in a head-on, unrestrained, doing about 45 mph. LOC at the scene. I had a massive headache and a bruise. They took me to the ER where I declinded the CT scan because I was uninsured. The dr was like "okay" -- I didn't even have to sign out AMA.


I wonder how those cases are treated when people gather stats to try to compare Canada's health care system to the US's. Are they recorded as an 80 year wait or more likely are they not recorded at all?

What little I know of this case, it doesn't sound like the waiting line was an issue at all. Doesn't stop people from crying that it was the sole determining factor. Just someone beating his own pet issue, unconcerned about the facts.

Harriet said...

Welcome to conservatism, American style.

Derek said...

I'm a Canadian, and while mine wasn't a bump on the head, I had a scheduled flexible sigmoidoscopy from my gastroenterologist back in late 2006. He saw something amiss, and I had a CT scan within an hour. Turns out I had colorectal cancer. Still do, but I'm also still alive more than two years later -- they got the main tumour out.

I've had excellent and continued treatment from some of the best-respected cancer specialists anywhere here in Vancouver. And my biggest out-of-pocket expense (I'm serious here) has been parking. I'll vote for Canadian health care, personally.

Linzel said...

Fact is the original author has the traditional baggage of being American his whole life. It doesn't matter how many statistics about infant mortality, life expectantcy - pick your indicator, American are indoctrinated to believe they are the best. Socialism equals dictatorship. Blah blah blah. It is no different from IDiots spouting their ignorance. No amount of reason will change a lifetime of living in a 'belief' system rather than an evidence based system.
Natural selection at its finest.

Anonymous said...

Several of the news reports I read said that emergency personnel were turned away, so it can hardly be blamed on "socialism."

Also ridiculous was his mentioning of "an EMT worth his salt would know she was a set-up for an epidural hematoma." OK, what makes him think Canadian EMTs aren't aware of this? And if they weren't, what does socialism have to do with it? The irony of course is that EMS systems in the U.S. are actually "socialized" in the sense that if you are having a medical emergency and can't afford to pay for life support and an ambulance ride or have no insurance, the EMTs don't simply walk away. So in this sense, the U.S. can't be all that different from Canada or any other country that has any kind of EMS system.

Doppelganger said...

As an American, I'd have to say Linzel got it pretty much right.

It saddens me how often I am forced to feel embarrassed by the attitude and sheer malicious stupidity of many of my fellow Americans.

paul01 said...

My neighbour had a brain tumor, which the doctors at first failed to diagnose. Her husband raised a ruckus at the hospital, and demanded further tests. She was in surgery 4 hours later.

(Moncton)

Eamon Knight said...

"OldFart" (and I think I recall the nym) obviously has an axe to grind, and chose to indulge in fact-free speculation on this incident in order to grind it. Kind of obnoxious, on more than one level.

Valhar2000 said...

Why am I not surprised that this guy ended his missive by sending prayers to somebody? Correlation does nto equal causation, but this pattern-seeking brain of mine is on overdirve right now.