>>>>>>>You elect a government to govern not court public opinion
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Someone should have told that to Obama, then. He has been in office almost 7 months and he is still campaigning. His face is plastered all over the television - he is on it in America more than Hugo Chavez is on in Venezuela. From where I sit, it appears that he is unable to govern because he is never in the White House.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>We elect a government to represent all of our citizens. Our government should not be representing only the left wing loonies. Historically, this country is a center right.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>If voters don't like it they can say so at the next set of elections.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I hear that they are getting ready to let the labor government over there get this message. It's about time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Well the American right attacking the NHS might be helping "labor" quite a lot so we can live in hope.
>>>>>
>>>>>Can you verify, is is true that Health trusts in Suffolk were among the first to announce that obese people would be denied hip and knee replacements on the NHS or that if you smoke you will not be treated for heart disease under the NHS?
>>>>>
>>>>>I also read this by Mark Steyn (can't verify its accuracy):
>>>>>
>>>>>amazingly, millions of freeborn citizens’ exercising their own judgment as to which of the latest drugs, tests, and procedures suits their own best interests has given Americans a longer, better, more fulfilling old age to the point where there are entire states designed to cater to it. (There is no Belgian or Scottish Florida.) I had an elderly British visitor this month who’s had a recurring problem with her left hand. At one point it swelled up alarmingly and so we took her to the emergency room. They did a CT scan, X-rays, blood samples, the works. In two hours at a small, rural, undistinguished, no-frills hospital in northern New Hampshire, this lady got more tests than she’s had in the last decade in Britain — even though she goes to see her doctor once a month. He listens sympathetically, tells her old age often involves adjusting to the loss of mobility, and then advises her to take the British version of Tylenol and rest up. Anything else would use up those valuable resources. So, in two hours in New Hampshire, she got tested and diagnosed (with gout) and prescribed something to deal with it. It’s the difference between health “care” (i.e., going to the doctor’s every month to no purpose) and health treatment — and on the latter America is the best in the world.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTAxYzFjODdiN2E3OWUyNzY1MDU1ODM1ZjZjYmY3YjM=&w=MQ==
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm trying to figure out what is fact and what is fiction.
>>>>>
>>>>>Mark Steyn appears to be a pretty staunch conservative (even for a Canadian or Brit/whichever he is!) :o)
>>>>
>>>>House is one of my favorite series. Diagnostic Medicine is the way to go, as I see it. But is House representative of the US's system????
>>>
>>>Most emergency rooms and doctors decide what tests are appropriate to diagnose and treat. When I fell down the stairs, the emergency room did an MRI and urine test and xrays to check for a broken rib, punctured kidney, etc. When my mother in law had her first mini-stroke they tested everything similar to his friend's experience in the ER and suspected it was MS from the tests and had her follow up with her local physician once they determined there was no life-threatening risk from the tests. When she went to see her physician they tested for MS and found out she had it. So a lot is done here in ERs depending on your symptoms, but it is important that it is the doctor's choice. Now, to the extent that House does? I doubt so in most cases. I've never met a doctor like the character on House, but I'm sure they exist. However, some hospitals (large metropolitan areas and university medical centers) do have diagnostic teams for that purpose which do a lot of biochemical and metabolic testing - sometimes referred to as differential diagnosis specialists.
>>>
>>>The show is often made fun of as 'not real' and 'no such thing exists' but there are training hospitals that do exactly what his team does. Most of the work is in labs, radiology, pathology, and screening though.
>>>
>>>As to reality, you may find this article interesting:
>>>
>>>A Real Dr House:
>>>http://discovermagazine.com/2007/medical-mysteries/the-real-dr-house
>>>The person who inspired the series: Dr. Lisa Sanders The Diagnosis Column in the New York Times Magazine
>>>Some similar doctors: Thomas Bolte, MD Manhattan
>>>
>>>So, no real Dr House in the U.S. :) It's just entertainment :o)
>>
>>I've read the whole article. Very interesting and intriguing. The way this doctor works is exactly how I think it should be done by specialists. This is NOT the regular practice in the Netherlands and I guess our insurance system may be one cause here. It's all protocol driven. And time management indeed. This part of the article is remarkable:
>>
>>There was a time in this country,” he says, “when doctors made house calls and when they were done, they sat down to dinner with the family. That’s how they got to know you. The next time someone in your family took sick, the doctor knew their context. He knew what their home life was like, knew what they did for a living, and so on. Today, you’re lucky if your doctor sees you for 12 minutes. How can you possibly find out all you need to know about a patient in 12 minutes?”
>
>There are still doctors in rural areas who know their patients very well. There are doctors in meto areas who belong to a concierge system and do house calls, however, that is a very expensive option usually and not the norm.
>
>One thing in the U.S. is that there are many options if you can afford them or you live in an area where it is available in a cost effective manner.
>
>What needs to change here is waste and abuse (medicaid administrative), dropping of insurees due to chronic illness, coverage for those folks who cannot afford it but live above the poverty line and it isn't provided for them either by the government or through their employer.

Last year during my first physical in 30 + years, my doctor was reading my file and commented "I see you were in the military. Were you a marine ?" I responded "No, I was in the army for 7 years". He went about his business and after a while asked "What is the difference between the marines and the army ?" I commented "Well they do much of the same things but the marines are stupid, that's why we call them 'jarheads'". Then towards the end of the exam when it came time for the prostate check, he told me to drop the underware and bend over the table. As he was snapping the rubber gloves on he said "By the way, I was a marine!"

One of my many humility building moments.

Ken