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Is There a Doctor in the House?
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I just saw Michael Moore’s film, Sicko. Talk about a depressing film. But, there was a silver lining. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, it explores the failure of the U.S. HMO medical system. Moore demonstrates that those of us who are fortunate enough to have health care can end up in the same boat as those who have none. Our health care is left in the hands of HMO administrators whose role is to find ways to deny us coverage. In fact, the more denials they can issue, the higher their compensation.
The silver lining was that Moore took some of the 9/11 rescue workers who have been unable to access the care they needed to Cuba. Here in Cuba, a country considered an “enemy” to the U.S., doctors provided quality medical care, not to mention nurturing and TLC, free of charge to these individuals whose claims had been rejected here.
The real irony is that while insurance companies continue to deny medical treatment to so many Americans whose lives are at stake, we continue to be a nation in which drugs are seen as the answer to every problem and cosmetic surgery is seen as a “necessity.”
I saw part of a TV show this morning called, The Doctors. No matter the medical complaint, drugs were always provided as the solution. A woman asked about controlling her asthma. There was no discussion of the need to change the environment that we are poisoning every day. The answer was simply steroids and constant steroids.
Another woman called in to the show to ask at what age her elementary school-age son could have plastic surgery to keep his ears from sticking out. There was no discussion of why this would even be needed. The automatic assumption was that this was the solution to the problem of being teased. There was no discussion of the problem with a society in which any difference, no matter how small, is cause for discrimination.
Doctors have become focused on resolving the symptoms without paying attention to the sources.
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A point of clarification: The glorification of Cuba’s healthcare system is an unfortunate by-product of this otherwise legitimate debate… The fact – verifialbe by my own family members – is that Cuba’s apartheid medical system provides great care for outsiders while the indigenous population is required to bring their own linen, band-aids, and even anesthesia to their hospital stay… Michael Moore was conveniently used by Cuba’s propaganda machine… Too bad.
Debbie:
Michael Moore is the” Master of The Obvious.” Sicko should have been made 20 years ago. HMO’s have been everyone’s nighmare so where’s the news? Moore should have spent more time on why France is Number One and Italy Number 2. It’s horrible that we finished 37th! At least it was two places higher than Cuba so I doubt people will be rushing to Havanna for anything other than cigars.
Even Canada with it’s broken system ranked higher than us. Europe did really well and since Frane and Italy finished one and two, there’s something in that Mediterranean diet and wine consumption that we can all learn from. Are you listening Michael because you’re a doctor’s nighmare!
On the other issue of watching The Doctor’s. I got a different reaction as I caught part of it regarding plastic surgery (what age is appropriate) and the ear-teasing thing. In consideration of the recent suicides by kids being bullied, I think parents are concerned about anything that may draw attention to their child. Given the format of the show, there’s no time for a thorough discussion. Sometimes, you just need to answer the specific question and not dwell on the “what if’s.” Personally, I think our kids need to stop being babied and coddled by the world and instead they should be told to defend themselves. Slap that bully and forget about those big ears of yours! That’s what the doctor should have said! One confrontation with the bully will make him/her go away.
Thanks for that info Reemberto. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that so many people here in the U.S. are without adequate medical coverage and some end up dying because their treatment is denied coverage by HMOs.
Deb
Hey Dennis,
Thanks for your comments. I wasn’t under-estimating the problem of children being bullied and teased. I just think there are better ways to deal with that than resorting to plastic surgery. We need to be looking at the problem as a community at the systemic level instead of dealing with at the individual level and using surgery as a solution.
Deb
Nothing is free. It is easy to find problems with the US health care system, but not easy to fix those problems. I have seen Sicko too and although it makes for great a documentary, it is shallow and manipulative.
The health care industry is so large and complex that one could take a series of anecdotes and weave together almost any story. One story that I know could be easily woven together is that of the siginificant medical and pharmaceutical break throughs that are traceable to our health care system. Just think of Ben Carson — him becoming a neurosurgeon from where he started was one miracle and what he accomplished in separating the siamese twins joined at the head was another. You could tie together more than two hours of documentary footage on medical discoveries in this country that have benefited the world. If there were a pandemic on this earth it is our CDC that would play the most prominent role among all government public health departments.
The point is this. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The world is forever lurching toward balance. And finally, there is nothing that is free. So it may seem that health care is “free” in cuba or the UK, but I am certain someone pays. You cannot provide any resource for free and not experience its overuse and inefficient allocation. You just can’t.
The legitimate problems with fixing our health care system are
1. If we tinker with it, what benefits of our system are we likely to affect? Will the production of new breakthrough drugs slow down or stop? Will new life-saving procedures take longer to discover? Will the promise of bio technology take longer to achieve? Difficult questions to answer and ones we may not want to risk losing.
2. What are we willing to pay? and related
3. Who will pay? One tends to be willing to pay more if they are not the ones paying.
4. How do we cover people not covered, but who want coverage?
All important questions that our elected officials are reponsibile for solving. I just hope their process is deliberative, balanced, and thoughtful.
Hyperbole, vilification of doctors and hospitals, questioning of everyone’s motives but our own is not going to get this probelm solved.
Aaron is absolutely correct. Fixing the health care system is a nighmare, but with all its problems here in the US, I’d rather be here than anywhere. Two weeks ago I had surgery at NYU Medical Center with a great heart doctor (Grossi) and the whole thing was paid by Oxford HMO. It’s tough for me to bash an HMO that made the entire process seamless. There’s a million good stories for every bad and as Aaron alluded to, you can cherry-pick ANY topic and make it sound plausible,
At some point we are judged by how we treat the weakest and poorest, but bashing the system isn’t always very productive. Blaming doctors, hospitals, rich people and big business for all our health care woes is ridiculous. Like Aaron, I’m hopeful that elected officials find a way to deliver top-notch medical care to EVERYONE without ruining those things that are good.
Despite the world country standings on medical care, I’m not running to Paris or Rome for heart surgery.
Aaron and Dennis,
You make good points. I am not trying to villify doctors or anyone personally, but as a system we need to be looking at the connections such as those between our environment and our medical problems, those between the routine use of drugs and our pharmaceutical companies and the advertising they do, and those between the increasing number of cosmetic plastic surgeries and the impossible expectations set by the media for how we are supposed to look.
We’re not going to be able to solve anything piecemeal and without looking at the whole picture.
Thanks for the feedback.
Deb
I have not seen the film but surely, the current medical insurance situation has us by the throat. I am glad that our new President has been able to get industry leaders to move towards health care reform so that the government can also take the necessary steps. This time we all have to make our support for health care reform heard.
As for plastic surgery to minimize a child’s ears so he won’t be teased, not only is that unnecessary surgery and unnecessary risk, it is siding with the bully and saying to that child, “Because some bully at school might pick on you, we have to make you look more acceptable and put you through unnecessary pain and suffering in order to do so.” What message does that send the child but that his own parents think he isn’t good enough just as he is? I don’t think we can fully blame the surgeons for this one, it is the parents who have their values upside down. The way to deal with bullying is to show zero tolerance for it at the school and community level, and to train children in how to cope with a bully.
While I have yet to view Sicko, the main problem with the current medical system is that is dis-ease rather than health based. In other words, we get care after we get sick. Prevention and healthy living are the keys. The current system also does not focus upon the cause of illness, instead treating symptoms and palliating suffering, rather than curing dis-ease.
As a physician, who recovered from serious long term illness, my mission is to now spread the “word” that well-being is everyone’s birth rite. Well-being is our innate nature. It is not a matter of faith. It is a matter of practice. Well-being can be created by practicing the exercises which generate well-being.
We can create well-being for ourselves everyday simply and easily. Like the muscles of the body which require exercise for optimal health there are inner muscles which also need exercise. Simple universal practices such as laughter and meditation exercise these inner muscles. My adages are “You Matter”, “Self-Care Matters”, and “It Only Takes a Moment” to care for yourself.
All the Best,
Love,
Jodi Peister, MD
Jodi,
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Deb