Flutterby™! : healthcare ramblings 2007-10-01 14:33:45.762662+00

healthcare ramblings

2007-10-01 14:33:45.762662+00 by Dan Lyke 6 comments

Sean Conner rambles about the state of the U.S. healthcare system for a bit. Yeah, what he said.

Charlene has had various tribulations with mainstream healthcare, and has kept me well exposed to various "alternative medicine" systems. The thing that blows me away is how ridiculously (and self-assuredly) wrong the mainstream system is much of the time. I'm sure that in a hundred years people will look back at our medical theories and systems with the same amazed bemusement as we look back on the theories of chemistry of, say, the mid 1700s, phlogiston and all.

A friend (who you've met, Dan) just went into the hospital to have a large ovarian cyst removed. Fortunately, she married another common friend last year and now has good health coverage. I think this highlights where modern medicine really is. Our medical paradigm works best when it comes to removing bad stuff by cutting it out or putting broken parts back together so they heal right. The efficacy of the rest is pretty vague.

One thing I'd like to see the medical community admit is that the only thing that really heals a body - is the body itself. Medicine should focus specifically on either removing barriers to healing or nourishing the body to facilitate it's own healing mechanisms.

I have this gut feeling that one of the "medical miracles" of late, antibiotics, are about to reveal themselves as more of a medical catastrophe. Overuse of antibiotics has lead to evolution of resistant bacteria. It also destroys the beneficial bacteria in the human body. These naturally occurring bacteria are very important for healing - but try to find a pill peddler who'll admit to that!

#Comment Re: made: 2007-10-01 21:44:16.453529+00 by: jeff [edit history]

I dated a doctor briefly about ten years ago, and she invited me to go on a riverboat cruise specifically given by a pharmaceutical company to those doctors who prescribed their drugs in the most volume.

Drugs are so embedded into our healthcare system that it's sickening. The large pharmaceuticals are so profitable and have so much clout in Washington that I don't expect to see much change in the near future.

I'd be interested in how much of the healthcare costs really are due to pharmaceuticals. I accept Sean's contention that much of the cost of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. is that we subsidize development costs for the rest of the world.

To his point, I know that I've done a few dumb things in my younger years, and back when I took chiropractors more seriously I used them as my first line of defense on various issues. Rather than chewing away at my deductible, $35 for a 20 minute visit got me, at various times, "nope, you need antibiotics, go see a doctor" but, more importantly, "yeah, it's broken, but it's not compound, so get some crutches and treat it gently for a month" (referring to my foot after a second and change of clawing at air following a climbing mishap).

Had I taken that same question to an emergency room it'd have taken me $500 to get through the door, and I've undoubtedly ended up with a cast and follow-up visits.

There's a lot that a practitioner at nurse or lower level could be dealing with out there that's getting funneled through a doctor because of liability and guild (AMA) concerns. That could change, and it could change by introducing more freedom into the system, not more restrictions.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-10-01 22:51:00.106421+00 by: jeff [edit history]

The healthcare costs attributable to pharmaceuticals aren't only measured in dollars, they're also measured in lives (cured, prolonged, lost).

#Comment Re: made: 2007-10-02 02:58:00.550278+00 by: Mark A. Hershberger

Having lived without employer-subsidized health care for over a year now, the price sensitivity argument really holds sway with me. I just wish more people were aware of the costs.

The thing that blows me away is how ridiculously (and self-assuredly) wrong the mainstream system is much of the time. I'm sure that in a hundred years people will look back at our medical theories and systems with the same amazed bemusement as we look back on the theories of chemistry of, say, the mid 1700s, phlogiston and all.