Doctors at a hospital chain in Los Angeles have complained about pressure to make unnecessary hospital admissions. It takes a lot to make doctors complain. These sorts of actions are rare enough that my gut reaction is to believe that where there is smoke, there is probably fire.
A long time ago, a preceptor, or teaching doctor, in psychopharmacology told me to read business newspapers like the Wall Street Journal if I really wanted to know what was going on in drug development. I never seemed to have the time, but he certainly did. He had a nice family and a fairly large home. A little more recently, my husband told me if I was ever approached by Mike Wallace, then the star reporter of “60 Minutes” on CBS, with a microphone and a camera, I should probably run like hell.
I am delighted this group of doctors complained. The health care company has denied the allegations. They say the data, collected by a third party, does not support the allegations. They don’t provide a link to the data, and I can’t locate it anywhere, so I guess I’ll just have to take their word for it. Cute, huh? One thing I have learned about all allegedly scientific data, whether it is a result of pouring things in test-tubes or a lot of people counting numbers, is not to judge the results until I know who paid for them. This hospital apparently paid someone to check if their admissions were appropriate. Can anybody possibly trust this data, especially knowing it is unavailable and its collection was paid for — if not supervised — by the hospital in question? Read more on Did Anyone Actually Believe That Medical Care Companies Were Honest or Ethical?…
Filed under Healthcare reform by on Dec 14th, 2012. Comment. 
Drug company lobbyists still rule this country, even under a president who promised us something different. I am sorry it took me so long to find out about the threats and deals made by the White House to get drug companies on board with Obama’s healthcare overhaul. Apparently, it was released by Republicans at the end of May. Read more on Even Obama is Ruled by Drug Companies…
Filed under medicine, politics, prescription drugs by on Nov 30th, 2012. Comment.
I happened to be watching CNN when Mr. Buckley, the father of an unarmed Marine killed in Afghanistan, was sharing his story. He was fighting tears and so was the CNN reporter. I was not doing too great myself.
I started the American Natural Health Initiative because I think American social behavior simply does not value human life. It’s not hard to find instances that support this — ridiculous profits for big corporations, the sorry state of our healthcare system, industrial toxins that persist despite knowledge of their danger, or genetic engineering that puts profit above human health. I am and will continue to be against all of these nefarious anti-human forces. These concerns are dwarfed, however, by the urgency to fight my own country about what the military is doing. As I say this, please remember that I am an honorably discharged veteran.
First, I openly send condolences to the family of Lieutenant Buckley of Long Island. I applaud his father’s courage, for it was obviously difficult for him to come forward. I must thank him for doing so and assure him that his son’s death — which his son saw coming — was not in vain. Lieutenant Buckley was gunned down in the heinous manner of an execution. An Afghan soldier, armed with an AK47, shot him on a basketball court where there were witnesses. The Afghan soldier had informed Lieutenant Buckley — as he apparently had in the past — that he did not belong where he was. For all intensive purposes, the perpetrator has “disappeared.” The stated purpose of the Marines – the unarmed ones in Afghanistan — is to help train our “ally” in police and military operations. As far as I can figure, the unarmed Marines are supposed to be doing things like playing basketball with our Afghan friends — who are armed. They even share a barracks. Read more on Marine Killed — But Was It A Casualty Of War?…
Filed under Government, Healthcare reform, News, war by on Sep 22nd, 2012. Comment.
Have you been told that you have high cholesterol? Or at least that you have to watch what you eat so you don’t get high cholesterol?
Of course you have! This is like a mantra – every health care professional and the writers who cover healthcare join in the party line. Everywhere you turn, it seems like everybody is on the “low-cholesterol” bandwagon.
Everybody? Hmm … (looking around) Well, there are exceptions.
Pardon me while I clear my throat and say in a loud, confident voice (and – might I add – a well-informed, scientifically and medically educated voice) – Bunk. Read more on ‘Tis The Season For Bad Dietary Advice…
Filed under Uncategorized by on Dec 2nd, 2011. Comment.
Poverty, illness and desperation are a tragic trio and destroy unknown numbers of lives.
One story that broke my heart was that of a sweet young thing, age 23, who had inherited nothing from her father but a disease.
She needed a “specialty medicine” for it — one of those medicines that is so expensive that nobody seems to want to pay for it. But she lost her job due to “downsizing” so she had no insurance and no money. Read more on US Healthcare Is A Tragedy, Not A Success…
Filed under Healthcare reform by on Nov 3rd, 2011. Comment.
I never paid a great deal of attention to politics, until I realized that health care had become politics.
I may be the last of a generation that learned, in medical school in France, that the responsibility of a doctor was to keep a record of cash transactions, something best done in a bound notebook with no pages ripped out, and only a single line to cross out errors, so that integrity would not be questioned.
The same year I entered medical school, President Richard Nixon signed the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973.
Wealthy industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, billionaire shipbuilder, and steel and aluminum magnate (as well as staunch Republican and major contributor to the Nixon campaign) was the first person to establish a “for-profit” hospital. Read more on Don’t Tell Me You Think Insurance Will Actually HELP…
Filed under Healthcare reform by on Oct 7th, 2011. Comment.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Americans who need health care but don’t have insurance or aren’t qualified for whatever programs are offered by the government going to Canada or some other country to take advantage of their universal health care programs. Or maybe somebody who has joined the military to get benefits.
But what about the person who robbed a bank – with the full intention of getting caught and going to prison so he could have healthcare. Read more on Going To Prison For Healthcare…
Filed under medicine, News by on Jul 1st, 2011. Comment.
Research is something that many people find suspicious. The mass public doesn’t know what makes “good” research and what is just plain manipulation.
Most people know that studying a lot of cases gives a more accurate picture than studying a single case – or just a few cases. But speaking as a formally trained and professional researcher, let me tell you that – contrary to conventional wisdom — it is really hard to make any sense of any kind of statistics that study a big-lot-much-HUGE number of human people.
Read more on Beware Of Governments Bearing Statistics…
Filed under politics, Research by on Jan 19th, 2011. Comment.
“Innovative Health Care Programs?”
This seems to be the era of backwards-definitions. “No Child Left Behind” means a diminished budget and fewer programs for child education. “Compassionate Conservatism” means cutting programs for the unemployed, the medical indigent and the hungry. “Strategic Defense” means a full-speed-ahead attack.
The “Innovative Programs” article talks about are mostly supplied by The Greenfield group, where improved medical care is provided if people fork in some cash to get it. Also “Harvard Vanguard,” who loves to be the first to do things.
Since there is nothing but Harvard hospitals on the reality TV show Boston Med, I wonder if the Harvard Public relations people have descended to some all-invasive biological state, to infiltrate all media, and to try to get us to believe that they do things medically and surgically that are more advanced than other providers. Read more on Walls and Barriers To Providing Health Care…
Filed under Healthcare reform, politics by on Aug 20th, 2010. Comment.