| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Michelle Malkin" |
| Date: |
24 Jul 2007 06:33:10 PM |
| Object: |
Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
As any executive of a Houston hospital can attest, that is precisely the
problem created by the high number of uninsured people in the United States.
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, and Harris
County the highest in the state. Those who lack insurance coverage
frequently delay seeking medical care until they are seriously ill. Then
they swamp hospital emergency rooms that are required by law to treat them
even if the patient has no ability to pay.
Since emergency care is far more expensive than a scheduled visit to a
doctor or clinic, hospitals wind up with large costs that they then pass on
to insured patients using their overtaxed facilities. As a result, insurance
companies raise their rates ever higher to cover the increased payouts,
making their policies too expensive for more working families. The result is
a health care system spiraling out of control and more children left
unprotected and in poor health.
The senators who voted 17-4 to expand the S-CHIP understand the situation.
Their plan would boost funding for S-CHIP from $25 billion to $60 billion
for the next five years with the aim of covering 3 million more children.
The measure would provide a uniform eligibility level of three times the
poverty line for a family with four children, $51,510. The increase would be
primarily funded by a steep hike in federal taxes on cigarettes and other
tobacco products
The Bush administration insists on holding the increase to $5 billion over
the five year period, a level that U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said
would not even maintain the current number of children enrolled.
Administration officials claim that expanding the program would undermine
the insurance industry. But having more children insured would lower costs
passed on to private insurers and employers.
Perhaps the most dubious reason cited by the White House for opposing the
increase concerns the tax hike on cigarettes, which would go up from 39
cents a pack to a dollar. According to spokesman Tony Fratto, it would
unfairly penalize the poor "to finance a new subsidy for the middle class."
He didn't mention that higher tobacco taxes would likely reduce teen access
to cigarettes and lower the health care costs of treating millions of
Americans for respiratory disease and cancer caused by smoking.
America's health care system is broken. Expanding S-CHIP is a stopgap
measure that would expand the number of Americans with access to health
care.
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| User: "Cary Kittrell" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
24 Jul 2007 06:40:10 PM |
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In article <UoKdnfCdfOSpETvbnZ2dnUVZ_v-hnZ2d@comcast.com> "Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> writes:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
Oh, hey, it's all a part of his "No Kid Left Alive" initiative.
-- cary
As any executive of a Houston hospital can attest, that is precisely the
problem created by the high number of uninsured people in the United States.
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, and Harris
County the highest in the state. Those who lack insurance coverage
frequently delay seeking medical care until they are seriously ill. Then
they swamp hospital emergency rooms that are required by law to treat them
even if the patient has no ability to pay.
Since emergency care is far more expensive than a scheduled visit to a
doctor or clinic, hospitals wind up with large costs that they then pass on
to insured patients using their overtaxed facilities. As a result, insurance
companies raise their rates ever higher to cover the increased payouts,
making their policies too expensive for more working families. The result is
a health care system spiraling out of control and more children left
unprotected and in poor health.
The senators who voted 17-4 to expand the S-CHIP understand the situation.
Their plan would boost funding for S-CHIP from $25 billion to $60 billion
for the next five years with the aim of covering 3 million more children.
The measure would provide a uniform eligibility level of three times the
poverty line for a family with four children, $51,510. The increase would be
primarily funded by a steep hike in federal taxes on cigarettes and other
tobacco products
The Bush administration insists on holding the increase to $5 billion over
the five year period, a level that U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said
would not even maintain the current number of children enrolled.
Administration officials claim that expanding the program would undermine
the insurance industry. But having more children insured would lower costs
passed on to private insurers and employers.
Perhaps the most dubious reason cited by the White House for opposing the
increase concerns the tax hike on cigarettes, which would go up from 39
cents a pack to a dollar. According to spokesman Tony Fratto, it would
unfairly penalize the poor "to finance a new subsidy for the middle class."
He didn't mention that higher tobacco taxes would likely reduce teen access
to cigarettes and lower the health care costs of treating millions of
Americans for respiratory disease and cancer caused by smoking.
America's health care system is broken. Expanding S-CHIP is a stopgap
measure that would expand the number of Americans with access to health
care.
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
25 Jul 2007 12:50:33 AM |
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In article <UoKdnfCdfOSpETvbnZ2dnUVZ_v-hnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
I note that the jackass didn't go to an emergency room for his 'brain
scan' last Saturday. You'd think he'd want the kids to grow up so they
could become more cannon fodder for the imperial armies.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
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| User: "Michelle Malkin" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
25 Jul 2007 01:15:55 AM |
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"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-0331FA.22503324072007@news.giganews.com...
In article <UoKdnfCdfOSpETvbnZ2dnUVZ_v-hnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
I note that the jackass didn't go to an emergency room for his 'brain
scan' last Saturday. You'd think he'd want the kids to grow up so they
could become more cannon fodder for the imperial armies.
It's his way of 'decreasing the excess population'.
--
^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
Michelle Malkin (Mickey) aa list#1
BAAWA Knight & Bible Thumper Thumper
^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
When fascism comes to America, it will be
wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross -
Sinclair Lewis
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
25 Jul 2007 05:58:44 PM |
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In article <g7Gdna_40bEEdzvbnZ2dnUVZ_vmlnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-0331FA.22503324072007@news.giganews.com...
In article <UoKdnfCdfOSpETvbnZ2dnUVZ_v-hnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
I note that the jackass didn't go to an emergency room for his 'brain
scan' last Saturday. You'd think he'd want the kids to grow up so they
could become more cannon fodder for the imperial armies.
It's his way of 'decreasing the excess population'.
True. I'm sure you don't see many rich people's kids waiting for hours
in emergency rooms.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
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| User: "L. Raymond" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
24 Jul 2007 07:04:28 PM |
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Michelle Malkin wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
As any executive of a Houston hospital can attest, that is precisely the
problem created by the high number of uninsured people in the United States.
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, and Harris
County the highest in the state. Those who lack insurance coverage
frequently delay seeking medical care until they are seriously ill. Then
they swamp hospital emergency rooms that are required by law to treat them
even if the patient has no ability to pay.
It's a pity the Chronicle didn't want to share a few stories about what
happens when the ER is overrun. A few weeks ago a woman was brought to
a Houston hospital, went into convulsions and began coughing up blood
while in the waiting room. When the admitting nurse did nothing, the
other people waiting tried to physically grab doctors and interns to see
to her, and one guy even called 911 to request help. From *inside* the
hospital. When the operator learned the sick woman was already in the
hospital, he basically said it wasn't his problem and shooed the caller
off the line. It took less than an hour for her to die, lying on the
floor in her own blood.
Just last night, the local news interviewed a man whose son was choking
on something. He rushed the child to the ER and was forced to fill out
every single insurance form they had before anyone would see to the boy
who was gasping for breath at the admitting desk.
Administration officials claim that expanding the program would undermine
the insurance industry.
Yes, that's so much more important than the lives and health of mere
people.
--
L. Raymond
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
27 Jul 2007 08:43:31 AM |
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On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:04:28 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
Michelle Malkin wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency
rooms for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
As any executive of a Houston hospital can attest, that is precisely
the problem created by the high number of uninsured people in the
United States. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the
nation, and Harris County the highest in the state. Those who lack
insurance coverage frequently delay seeking medical care until they are
seriously ill. Then they swamp hospital emergency rooms that are
required by law to treat them even if the patient has no ability to
pay.
It's a pity the Chronicle didn't want to share a few stories about what
happens when the ER is overrun. A few weeks ago a woman was brought to
a Houston hospital, went into convulsions and began coughing up blood
while in the waiting room. When the admitting nurse did nothing, the
other people waiting tried to physically grab doctors and interns to see
to her, and one guy even called 911 to request help. From *inside* the
hospital. When the operator learned the sick woman was already in the
hospital, he basically said it wasn't his problem and shooed the caller
off the line. It took less than an hour for her to die, lying on the
floor in her own blood.
Actually, that was Harbor in LA. Which, by the way, was the hospital they
used for outdoors shots for the old series "Emergency!" (back when
paramedics were a New Thing).
Used to be, the biggest fear about Harbor was liquifaction during an
earthquake (it's on soft soil and could literally sink in a strong
quake). Now the big worry is... you gonna die...
Oh I understand the janitor was mopping up around the woman as she died
on the floor, being ignored by staff...
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"Warned you we tried! Listen you did not! Now screwed
we will all be!"
http://www.sequentialpictures.com/moviestarwarsepisode3.html
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| User: "L. Raymond" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
27 Jul 2007 02:45:01 PM |
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Mark K. Bilbo wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:04:28 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
It's a pity the Chronicle didn't want to share a few stories about what
happens when the ER is overrun. A few weeks ago a woman was brought to
a Houston hospital, went into convulsions and began coughing up blood
while in the waiting room. When the admitting nurse did nothing, the
other people waiting tried to physically grab doctors and interns to see
to her, and one guy even called 911 to request help. From *inside* the
hospital. When the operator learned the sick woman was already in the
hospital, he basically said it wasn't his problem and shooed the caller
off the line. It took less than an hour for her to die, lying on the
floor in her own blood.
Actually, that was Harbor in LA. Which, by the way, was the hospital they
used for outdoors shots for the old series "Emergency!" (back when
paramedics were a New Thing).
I had heard the story on several local broadcasts, but as I was typing,
it occurred to me I didn't recall the hospital's name so I began to
wonder if it was in Houston. I meant to remove the reference to the
city, just in case since I didn't feel like wading through the TV sites
to find that detail.
Used to be, the biggest fear about Harbor was liquifaction during an
earthquake (it's on soft soil and could literally sink in a strong
quake). Now the big worry is... you gonna die...
Oh I understand the janitor was mopping up around the woman as she died
on the floor, being ignored by staff...
I figure I'm lucky to have never had to worry about the ER. The only
times I've ever been I was still young enough that I was covered by my
parents' insurance.
--
L. Raymond
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
27 Jul 2007 04:58:06 PM |
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On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:45:01 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
Mark K. Bilbo wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:04:28 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
It's a pity the Chronicle didn't want to share a few stories about
what happens when the ER is overrun. A few weeks ago a woman was
brought to a Houston hospital, went into convulsions and began
coughing up blood while in the waiting room. When the admitting nurse
did nothing, the other people waiting tried to physically grab doctors
and interns to see to her, and one guy even called 911 to request
help. From *inside* the hospital. When the operator learned the sick
woman was already in the hospital, he basically said it wasn't his
problem and shooed the caller off the line. It took less than an hour
for her to die, lying on the floor in her own blood.
Actually, that was Harbor in LA. Which, by the way, was the hospital
they used for outdoors shots for the old series "Emergency!" (back when
paramedics were a New Thing).
I had heard the story on several local broadcasts, but as I was typing,
it occurred to me I didn't recall the hospital's name so I began to
wonder if it was in Houston. I meant to remove the reference to the
city, just in case since I didn't feel like wading through the TV sites
to find that detail.
It caught my attention because Harbor is a major land mark out where I
used to live. Must've driven past it a million times.
Used to be a really good hospital. Now it's apparently a death trap.
Used to be, the biggest fear about Harbor was liquifaction during an
earthquake (it's on soft soil and could literally sink in a strong
quake). Now the big worry is... you gonna die...
Oh I understand the janitor was mopping up around the woman as she died
on the floor, being ignored by staff...
I figure I'm lucky to have never had to worry about the ER. The only
times I've ever been I was still young enough that I was covered by my
parents' insurance.
Only problem being, by the time folks in our age range are most likely to
need them, what the hell kind of shape are they going to be in at this
rate?
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"Just because it's inexplicted doesn't mean it's inexplicable."
- Dr. House
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| User: "L. Raymond" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
27 Jul 2007 06:05:49 PM |
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Mark K. Bilbo wrote:
Only problem being, by the time folks in our age range are most likely to
need them, what the hell kind of shape are they going to be in at this
rate?
I don't think we have to imagine. I want to say it was during the
Summer of 2001 that Ben Taub, Houston's primary trauma hospital,
actually issued a plea to people to quit driving recklessly and for
parents to take children who weren't really, truly emergency cases to
their family doctor because basically no hospital in town could cope
with any more ER admissions. They were out of beds and blood, the
medical teams were almost dangerously exhausted, ambulances were having
to drive miles out of town to deliver people to hospitals in the suburbs
and weren't immediately available for new patients and so on. That was
just one weekend, or at most one week, and was horrifying enough.
Imagine extending that situation to weeks or months at a time.
--
L. Raymond
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
28 Jul 2007 09:12:54 AM |
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On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:05:49 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
Mark K. Bilbo wrote:
Only problem being, by the time folks in our age range are most likely
to need them, what the hell kind of shape are they going to be in at
this rate?
I don't think we have to imagine. I want to say it was during the
Summer of 2001 that Ben Taub, Houston's primary trauma hospital,
actually issued a plea to people to quit driving recklessly and for
parents to take children who weren't really, truly emergency cases to
their family doctor because basically no hospital in town could cope
with any more ER admissions. They were out of beds and blood, the
medical teams were almost dangerously exhausted, ambulances were having
to drive miles out of town to deliver people to hospitals in the suburbs
and weren't immediately available for new patients and so on. That was
just one weekend, or at most one week, and was horrifying enough.
Imagine extending that situation to weeks or months at a time.
Or just all year long, nation wide...
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"How come God gets credit whenever something good happens? Where was he
when her heart stopped?"
- Dr. House
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
25 Jul 2007 01:36:57 AM |
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On Jul 24, 7:33 pm, "Michelle Malkin" <hypati...@comcast.net> wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency rooms
for their care.
Dumbass. He doesn't even realize that it has already been happening
for the past 20yrs, even without his pathetic proclamation from "on
high".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/14/AR2006061402166.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18579368/site/newsweek/
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=06142006
I was first diagnosed with heart disease after I landed in the local
ER with chest pain after driving around in our 90 degree heat and
feeling light-headed. The doc at the clinic where I finally pulled the
car off the road (didn't want to pass out and take anyone else out
with me..) did a BP check, and it was 180 over 90. I cooled off in the
air conditioned waiting room, and then drove over to the hospital. I
was last on the list, since I could actually walk into the place
unassisted. Waited 7hrs to be seen. And when I saw how badly everyone
else there hurt, I didn't mind it.
Well, I minded...but I understood that I would just be selfish to be
angry about it.
I dated a lovely young woman from England for a few years...and
between that and my sportscar affliction, I've spent a little time in
western Europe. When comparing the two, I can only conclude that the
US is simply a "third world nation" with nukes.
-Panama Floyd, Atlanta.
aa@2015/KoBAAWA!
Hugo Chavez in `08!
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: Send Kids to Emergency Rooms, Says Heartless Bush |
27 Jul 2007 08:39:23 AM |
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On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:33:10 -0400, Michelle Malkin wrote:
July 22, 2007, 7:30PM
That's the problem
President Bush suggests uninsured children go to hospital emergency
rooms for their care.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
After the Senate Finance Committee approved an expansion of the federal
Children's Health Insurance Program to cover nearly 10 million kids,
President Bush offered a strange rationale for threatening to veto it.
"People have access to health care in America," he told an audience in
Cleveland. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."
Yeah, which is bankrupting hospitals and parents.
Interestingly, I noticed the last time I actually went to an ER (when I
caught that Ear Infection From Hell), they went straight into
collections. Not a bill, collections.
Self-pay apparently means "scum" to hospitals now.
Though that also happened more than once with Bob's bills and he had
insurance. No attempt to bill, just a bill collector calling or sending a
nasty note. I actually wrote back (and CC'd the state AG) to one with a
letter along the lines of, "It is traditional to actually present a bill
before sending the patient to collections."
(I got very good at the formalistic snot-o-gram when dealing with his
health care "providers" and "insurance" companies)
My all time favorite was the bill collector who called to yell at Bob
about a bill she wouldn't identify.
Um... WHAT?
He couldn't even get out of her where to send a payment. She kept
demanding money but wouldn't tell him where to send it.
Bizzare.
Turned out, it was part of a transition between insurance companies. And
this pisses me off. His old one *paid* the claim then turned him over to
collections.
If they'd *denied* the claim--as they should have done--the pharmacy
would have caught it and would have asked me for his new insurance
information. As it was, they still could have straightened the whole
thing out by reversing the charges, prompting the pharmacy to call us so
I could have straightened them out on which insurance company to bill
(they actually already knew, they just kept billing the wrong one... this
also kept happening for months but the old insurance would just decline
and I'd have to say, once again, "Stop billing the WRONG INSURANCE
COMPANY and this won't happen anymore")
I also had a lab that sent him to collections because THEY were billing
the WRONG insurance company no matter how many times I gave them the
information.
I finally batched all the bills up and threatened them with the state AG,
the state insurance board, and the FTC (they were based in another state
so it was intrastate).
By that point, I had Bob's power of attorney to handle his medical and
money issues and got *real* nasty with the idiots who'd screw up then
yell at him about it. Told the lab not to send a single letter until they
fixed their screw up and if they even so much as glanced at his credit
rating, I was getting a lawyer.
(Funny how they got every damn dime once they actually billed the right
insurance comany)
Anyway.
I was actually tempted to fight the bill from the ER. It was outrageously
expensive and the treatment Did Not Work. I ended up in my doctor's
office first thing Monday (the ER trip was Sunday night, I tried holding
out but it *hurt*... I'll never again complain about a screaming kid who
has an ear infection... I had no idea... I haven't felt anything that
painful since I had an impacted wisdom tooth).
It cost three times as much to go to the ER *and* I had to go to my
regular doctor anyway and pay him too. On top of it, the ER doctor was an
*****.
I also will *never* forget what happened to the Cedar Sinai ER. One of
*the* premeire hospitals on the planet, a place heads of states are taken
if they're on the West Coast, the place Reagan would go when President
and in need of health care in LA, and the ER looked like a refugee camp
last time I saw it.
Standing room only in the waiting room, the ER staff was swamped, they
were out of basics like specimen cups and had to improvise...
We're out and out destroying our hospitals. The wealthy think they're
immune? Think again. I'm talking one of the hospitals they'd take Bush or
Cheney to. Yeah, they'd get all kinds of "priority" but if the staff is
run ragged and they're out of supplies left and right, that's not going
to do even the VIPs any good. They might get attention immediately but
from a doctor and nurses who are exhausted, frustrated, overworked, and
zoned out from pulling a double shift.
Being surrounded by nurses in my family, I've watched as things have
unraveled over the years. I'm actually terrified of going to a hospital
in an unconscious state. Such as I have a severe penicillan allergy
(almost killed me as a kid) and wear a medical alert. Still almost got a
penicillan injection once. I was groggy from a high fever and somebody
came at me with a needle. I perked up just enough to ask what was in the
hypo and when they told me, barked, "You trying to kill me?"
Yeah it was in my chart. Yeah I had a medical alert. Yeah, they almost
injected me anyway.
Errors in hospitals are now killing upwards of 200,000 people per year.
It's becoming one of the leading causes of death in the US.
Best health care system in the world though huh?
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"What the hell is an aluminum Falcon?"
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