Prevention is a crucial element
of healthcare reform. President Obama said that through prevention, Americans
will become healthier and thus substantially reduce the costs of healthcare. He
extolled the importance of training more primary care physicians, encouraging
each and every one of us to take responsibility for getting and staying healthy
and focusing on prevention.
But that was a few months ago
when the president first presented his plan for a government run overhaul of
our severely ailing healthcare system.
I for one, along with many of my
patients, applauded the president.
We who live and work in the trenches
where healthcare actually happens know how desperately needed a change of
direction is.
We know first hand that all too
often our hospitals are sources of more disease than cures, that patients get
shuffled from specialist to specialist and test to test for years without
improvements in their condition, that the insured are often treated just as
poorly as the uninsured. We in the trenches watch in horror as some of our
peers care more about how much money they make from a particular test, by
prescribing a particular drug or by giving a lecture for a drug company, then
spending an extra 5 minutes with a patient listening and caring. We in the
trenches know that the system is overtaxed and the training of physicians is
not of the quality or purity we need to keep the country healthy and thriving.
We also know that the most advanced technologies or drugs will never make up
for the humanity and care we are often unable or unwilling to give our patients
for lack of time or maybe fear of getting sued.
Of course, each one of us is
responsible for creating a positive outcome in our own lives, but in the case
of healthcare we need a little more than good attitudes and perspective. We
need some serious support. Support from our government was promised by President
Obama during his campaign. We agreed it was needed. We needed change and voted
for it.
Unfortunately, not much of what
we truly need is included in the HS 3200 plan and the increasingly heated
discussions we are faced with today.
Personally, as a practicing
physician for more than 30 years, I felt betrayed and horrified to read the
President had gone back on his word to avoid involvement with special interests
by making a deal with the pharmaceutical lobby.
The White House secretly made a pact with the drug companies that was hammered
out several months ago but only came to light a few weeks ago in all too few
media outlets.
Although quite sketchy, this much
we know: The drug companies, through their powerful lobby, agreed not to oppose
any form of healthcare reform and offered $80 billion in cost savings over 10
years if the White House would protect them from having to shoulder additional
financial burden in upcoming legislation.
Please note this is not about
giving free drugs to poor people who cannot afford them and actually need them
-- this is about keeping the drug cartel running the healthcare system.
This type of deal will make drug companies even more powerful and the country more
addicted to prescription and other forms of "legal" drugs. Not
exactly a promising start for a trend towards prevention. True prevention is
about preventing disease and inherently diminishing the need or more drugs,
regardless of cost.
The $80 billion "giveback" deal is a drop in the ocean for drug
companies. If healthcare reform legislation is passed as is, it will give
millions more American access to their products and result in windfall profits.
That is, as long as the health care system continues on the path of status quo:
more disease diagnosing, more testing, more drugs, less doctor-patient
interaction.
The deal with the Administration guarantees drug companies a "seat at the
table" as the reform process plays out and perpetuates their position as
one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington regardless of which political
party is in power. This does not bode well for the American public.
Never mind that too many drugs
are proven to harm people more than help them, that drug companies influence
physician practice, not only by paying for medical education but also through
ghostwriting scientific articles published in respected medical journals. Never
mind that drug companies advertise their drugs directly to the public while
also sponsoring some of the most senior and highly respected medical groups and
academic centers in this country.
Increasing access to drugs takes the focus off the real problem and allows the
drug companies which already have destroyed the concept and reality of a free
and safe health care system to continue their plan to benefit from America
being sick and using drugs instead of shifting the focus to eating right,
exercising and preventing disease.
Instead of worrying Americans
about "death panels" and rationing of health care which is already in
place with HMOs and other large insurance carriers, let's put the focus back
where it belongs.
Do not allow America to continue
being manipulated by special interest groups and help the people of America
understand that they must control their own fate.
Let them start by learning how to
eat right, exercise, sleep and be kind to themselves. Once these basic health
care tips become part of the fabric of our society, we can focus on demanding
that physicians and other health care providers work for us.
Healthcare is the ultimate
service industry and should become exactly that. Once healthcare becomes solely
about serving the public and not special interests, the solution to all our
health care problems will be found.

health care is not a right, and that is the false premise of all the problems...you cannot force anyone into working for others, and that's what you are doing to doctors...there is a better way to get good health care, but if health care is a right, then why isn't food and water? people should focus more on having good jobs for people, who can then choose what health care they want
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