Health care costs too much in our country because we deliver too much health care. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We're turning into a nation of anxious wimps.
I still love my job; very few things are as emotionally rewarding as relieving true pain and suffering, sharing compassionate care and actually saving lives. Illness and injury will always require the best efforts our medical system can provide. But emergency departments nationwide are being overwhelmed by the non-emergent, and doctors in general are asked to treat what doesn't need treatment.
In a single night I had patients come in to our emergency department, most brought by ambulance, for the following complaints: I smoked marijuana and got dizzy; I got stung by a bee and it hurts; I got drunk and have a hangover; I sat out in the sun and got sunburn; I ate Mexican food and threw up; I picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped; I just had sex and want to know if I'm pregnant.
Or, as the actual title of the article states, "Suck it up, America!"
Believe me, this is not unusual - in our area, volunteer rescue squads are having to charge people who use the service as a taxi to get from their home to their doctor. Stupid, selfish, and pathetic!
It will, I promise you, get far, far worse before it gets better. I deliver and install home medical equipment for a living, and after seeing what I've seen among the old, what I see among the young scares me. People are just flat refusing to take care of themselves. They don't seem to think their health is their responsibility.
Posted by: Man of the West | October 16, 2009 at 10:09 PM
It is ALREADY worse in my part of the country where Mexican Nationals cross the border to get medical care.
Posted by: GM Roper | October 18, 2009 at 06:52 PM