Homestead mailing list

[SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>]

Lynda wrote:
> OBVIOUSLY you have an ax to grind.  
Hey, I just pointed out that your statement was less than accurate.  No 
sense gettin' all bollixed up.  The 'axe' I was discussing with Bob was 
the horrible inefficiencies in the system and some of  the dire results 
that occur.
> Yes, the patient care in the U.S. is 
> dismal.  HOWEVER, the majority of the responsibility lies with insurance 
> companies and quite a bit lies at the feet of the patients.
>   
Well, no one said it didn't.  That post related to a conversation Bob 
and I were having.  If he got the meaning I'm happy.
> And, NO, lab tests won't put the lie to most of the things patients do and 
> don't report.  
I was just pointing out that not all med errors are reported, dear......
> Besides, if any doctor ran the number of tests necessary to 
> rule out all the patient lies, the insurance companies would have fits AND 
> the patients would have fits.
>
>   
Perhaps you think I lied to the doctor? No. I'm not in the habit of  
lying.  As you so aptly pointed out, that wouldn't have gotten me good 
medical care anyway.   In the cited example, he had had my entire 
medical history for several weeks and it was in front of him as he wrote 
the script, including the current med schedule and including a pt/inr 
report  less than a week old.  The insurance was not in on it at that 
point, nor are they yet, nor will they be.  I paid the lab myself and 
left him with the Vitamin K bill.   And it was simply an example to 
point out that not all med errors are reported, and how that might 
happen.  No point getting huffy.
> I've seen my share of dumbass doctors.  I'm not deluded, but I'm not merrily 
> making all the docs out to be the bad guys nor sending on the links that say 
> "may have" "could be" etc.  Either use facts or simply put in the subject 
> line "personal rant."
>   
I made no reference to your being deluded in connection to doctors, but 
to the problem of med errors and whether or not they are all reported.  
Of course  not all med errors are made by doctors:  there are 
pharmacists, parents, patients, nurses, paid caregivers.......and 
certainly they are not all made in reporting facilities.  I merely 
pointed out that not nearly all med errors are reported and an example 
of one way they go unreported.  So your statement "BTW, ALL med errors 
are reported, period!" is inaccurate, and dangerous from the point of 
view that it lends the idea that 'somebody' is looking after the store.  
The somebodies try, but the system doesn't always provide the 
information; we all need to be aware and checking/cross-checking all the 
time.   See example. 

The link I sent was to an article from JAMA and was full of facts.  I 
take them as facts as the publication is reputable, presents the views 
of the lead medical association in this country, and I certainly didn't 
do the research but if  JAMA accepts the article, they must consider it 
factual.  I've seen excerpts from that article quoted several times and 
I've never known JAMA to refute any part of it.   Perhaps you didn't  
read the article, or perhaps you disagree with the author's point of 
view to the point you don't accept what she presents as facts.  That's 
your prerogative, of course.  I ain't forcin' ya.

I don't get the "may have" "could be"  unless you are referring to the 
title of the guy's blog.   I put the link there not for the blog itself 
but for the article he has copied there from JAMA,  "Is US Health Really 
the Best in the World?" because the only other place I could find it was 
on JAMA's website and I'm guessing most folks don't have and don't want 
to pay for a subscription.  I didn't get bogged down with the blog 
itself; that's just where I found what I was looking for.

Susan Jane, in Maine