I don't believe America has the best medical care in the world.

[Ripley]

Unless you're rich, of course.

My Dad had to have an emergency appendectomy Sunday morning. When he was lucid enough to speak, the first thing he told the nurse to tell my Mom to bring him was his vitamin/supplement case from home. He is aware (as I am) that his chances of contracting pneumonia or a staph infection by staying in the hospital over the next few days is quite high. Since they were shocked he was not on any heart medication, or any pharms (he quit taking the shit after his by-pass 10 years ago because it was killing him)...I figure they won't let him take his daily supplements. Bastards.

I have personal experience with hospitals and emergency room treatments (I was bleeding pretty profusely when I left one on my own accord because the area they placed me in had dirty needles and bloody swabs on the bed and floor as well as the table looked like it had an inch of dirt and blood ingrained in it) and I have nothing good to say about them. I was over-medicated twice.

Yes, this and my countless other anecdotal stories from friends, family and co-workers about hospitals and ER's are not the same as published reports about how wonderful the American system is and we dare not try a Universal health insurance coverage program because it would mean such a degradation of care. Hah!

But DAMN.

Don't the facts - like about 200,000 deaths in American hospitals annually due to errors ring a bell to folks that real life in American hospitals ain't like the beautiful, caring people in the TV shows about medicine?

I am not saying there are not great doctors out there and even good hospitals, but the majority of Americans don't have access to those fine caring people and places. The vast majority of Americans are treated like pieces of meat going through a money-making, paper generating machine that has employees who are underpaid and overworked and too tired to give a flying fuck what happens to you.

I don't have statistics to back up my claim "we're not the best" but I find it telling that the people against any kind of changes in our health insurance and medical delivery in this country always cite either flawed or outright bogus reports of other countries, or they compare our care to that of a very poor nation, instead of our peer nations.

Here's a toast to the old man getting out of the hospital alive! :toast: