Natasha Richarsons death should have been prevented. Richardson died of an epidural hematoma -- a bleeding artery between the skull and brain that compresses and ultimately causes fatal brain damage via pressure buildup. With prompt diagnosis by CT scan, and surgery to drain the blood, most patients survive.
Canadian health care de-emphasizes widespread dissemination of technology like CT scanners. A CT scan would have easily revealed the problem and she could have been saved. Another problem is the lack of medical helicopters. Both of these issues have to do with budgetary problems.
Over 3 hours after the fall she was still conscious but having some difficuties. Because the hospital in the resort town did not have a CT scan or access to a helicopter she took an ambulance to the nearest center and by then it was too late.
This is not an isolated case. These stories happen all the time in a government run health care system.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That is why I can't understand the people who want national healthcare. I would agree that something needs to be done about the rising costs, but where has national healthcare worked? I would really like for someone to inform me on why I am incorrect on this.
ReplyDeleteTOTC,
ReplyDeleteAs much as I hate the thought of having a health care system similar to Canada or England and as much as I want to believe your thesis, do you have a data to support your conclusion? It makes perfect sense but I share that view with others, I would like a little more information on it if you have any.
We all know you can make numbers prove almost anything you want. We have also heard the stories of Canadians coming to the US for better care. Here are the numbers I have comparing US vs Canadian or European healthcare.
ReplyDeleteI'll not make this too long. The main body of the comment was taken from a NY Post article written by a Chicago doctor.
From Scott W. Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long -- sometimes more than a year -- to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.
The Canadian Association of Radiologists in a report in the National Post said that more than 50 percent of all diagnostic imaging units in Canada require immediate replacement. The study, which examined departments in more than 500 hospitals and clinics, found 63 percent of general X-ray equipment is outdated. It also found 53 percent of ultrasound equipment is obsolete and just one-third of all equipment has potential for future upgrades.
Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey. A 50 yr old woman with a mass in her breast would wait less than 3 weeks for a biopsy in the US 93% of the time. In Canada 70% and in the UK 73% of the time. A hip replacement for a 65 yr old would take more than 6 months in the US 0% of the time. In Canada 50% and in the UK 81% of the time.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) In 2004, in British Columbia, Canada, a health worker strike resulted in the cancellation of 5,300 surgeries and numerous MRI examinations, CT scans, and lab tests. An esti¬mated 60 percent of radiological equipment in Canada is technically outdated. In 2000, Canada had nine critical care beds per 100,000, compared to 31 per 100,000 in the United States. Canada has fewer MRIs per capita than Iceland, Hungary, South Korea, and the Czech Republic. Further, much of the country’s diagnostic equipment is “so outdated it would be not be used by radiologists in the United States".
And this is the system we want?
I agree with everything you have posted. My thoughts were if we could place the famous human face, say a movie star, as dying due to national health care, the genreal public wouls eat it up. At the same time, we would be turning more people against it.
ReplyDeleteI just didn't want to make a statement publicly about the health care building not having a C-scan nor a helicopter and later be proved wrong.
Nothing kills a good argument faster than to have it be proven to be based on false data. That is unless your a Washington politician.