MD's On Strike
THE DAY THE DOCTORS WENT ON STRIKE:
A disturbing trend has been observed when doctors reduce their services or even go on strike:
Take for example, the June 10, 2000 edition of the British Medical Journal: "Death rates have dropped considerably in most of the country since physicians in public hospitals implemented a program of sanctions 3 months ago." Since the action was initiated by the Israel Medical Association on March 9, 2000 "hundreds of thousands of visits to outpatient clinics have been cancelled or postponed along with tens of thousands of elective operations. This month (May) there were only 93 funerals compared with 153 in May 1999, 133 in the same month in 1998 & 139 in May 1997."
In 1976 in Bogota, Colombia, there was a 52 day period in which doctors disappeared altogether except for emergency care. The National Catholic Reporter described "a string of unusual side effects" from the strike. The death rate went down 35%!
In Los Angeles County in 1976 an 18% drop in the death rate occured when doctors went on strike. When the strike ended and the medical machinery started grinding again, the death rate went right back up to where it had been before the strike.
Israel in 1973 when the doctors reduced their daily patient contact from 65,000 to 7,000. The strike lasted a month. The Israeli death rate dropped 50% during that month.
It starts to get even more scary: In a review of errors in medicine in the USA, Leape estimated that "180,000 die each year partly as a result of doctor caused injury, the equivalent of 3 jumbo jet crashes every 2 days."
It was reported (in the USA) that medication related "problems" kill as many as 198,815, put 8.8 million in hospitals, and account for up to 28% of all hospital admissions.
A Harvard study concluded that medical malpractice is the 3rd leading cause of preventable death in the USA, ahead of traffic fatalities and firearm deaths. Only cigarette smoking and alcohol cause more deaths.
So what does this all mean to us as individuals when seeking medical care? Not necessarily that we should boycott the local GP altogether, but that we need to have complete but critical confidence in the medical personnel that we consult.
Here are some thoughts on things to use when determining whether to take the pills the GP or specialist recommends:
1) Do you have a good, trusting relationship with your practitioner? If you are not happy with the bedside manner, personality, time spent etc. then there are plenty of other doctors better suited to you.
2) Does the doctor take the time to understand your concern, has he/she ever examined you or ordered diagnostic tests, or does he/she just give you script and tell you to come back if you have any more problems: Beware!
3) Are you happy with the explanations you receive from your practitioner? If not, it is either because you are not asking enough questions and the doctor thinks you know what he/she means, or that it's time to find one that is happy to give you information.
4) Read, listen, ask for resources & question: Especially if you have been given a fairly serious diagnosis/prognosis. If you actively seek information about that particular condition then you will actually know more than most of your treating practitioners in a relatively short span of time.
HERE'S A THOUGHT!!
"God helps the man who trusts in him and does what he can to help himself."
CHIROPRACTIC PHILOSOPHY:
"Chiropractic seldom fails, and never does harm when properly handled." (DD Palmer, Founder of Chiropractic, 1910.)
A disturbing trend has been observed when doctors reduce their services or even go on strike:
Take for example, the June 10, 2000 edition of the British Medical Journal: "Death rates have dropped considerably in most of the country since physicians in public hospitals implemented a program of sanctions 3 months ago." Since the action was initiated by the Israel Medical Association on March 9, 2000 "hundreds of thousands of visits to outpatient clinics have been cancelled or postponed along with tens of thousands of elective operations. This month (May) there were only 93 funerals compared with 153 in May 1999, 133 in the same month in 1998 & 139 in May 1997."
In 1976 in Bogota, Colombia, there was a 52 day period in which doctors disappeared altogether except for emergency care. The National Catholic Reporter described "a string of unusual side effects" from the strike. The death rate went down 35%!
In Los Angeles County in 1976 an 18% drop in the death rate occured when doctors went on strike. When the strike ended and the medical machinery started grinding again, the death rate went right back up to where it had been before the strike.
Israel in 1973 when the doctors reduced their daily patient contact from 65,000 to 7,000. The strike lasted a month. The Israeli death rate dropped 50% during that month.
It starts to get even more scary: In a review of errors in medicine in the USA, Leape estimated that "180,000 die each year partly as a result of doctor caused injury, the equivalent of 3 jumbo jet crashes every 2 days."
It was reported (in the USA) that medication related "problems" kill as many as 198,815, put 8.8 million in hospitals, and account for up to 28% of all hospital admissions.
A Harvard study concluded that medical malpractice is the 3rd leading cause of preventable death in the USA, ahead of traffic fatalities and firearm deaths. Only cigarette smoking and alcohol cause more deaths.
So what does this all mean to us as individuals when seeking medical care? Not necessarily that we should boycott the local GP altogether, but that we need to have complete but critical confidence in the medical personnel that we consult.
Here are some thoughts on things to use when determining whether to take the pills the GP or specialist recommends:
1) Do you have a good, trusting relationship with your practitioner? If you are not happy with the bedside manner, personality, time spent etc. then there are plenty of other doctors better suited to you.
2) Does the doctor take the time to understand your concern, has he/she ever examined you or ordered diagnostic tests, or does he/she just give you script and tell you to come back if you have any more problems: Beware!
3) Are you happy with the explanations you receive from your practitioner? If not, it is either because you are not asking enough questions and the doctor thinks you know what he/she means, or that it's time to find one that is happy to give you information.
4) Read, listen, ask for resources & question: Especially if you have been given a fairly serious diagnosis/prognosis. If you actively seek information about that particular condition then you will actually know more than most of your treating practitioners in a relatively short span of time.
HERE'S A THOUGHT!!
"God helps the man who trusts in him and does what he can to help himself."
CHIROPRACTIC PHILOSOPHY:
"Chiropractic seldom fails, and never does harm when properly handled." (DD Palmer, Founder of Chiropractic, 1910.)
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