'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

[Kyril Enko]

Source: Canadian Press

An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla. "I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics." The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage. He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.

Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.

His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.

He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h0QC7bditrEb3wYz_6_b-gsGGDxA

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Having worked in Canada for fifteen months in the mid-1990s, I feel confident in stating two things:

1. Their health care system is, overall, better than ours.

2. Despite what Michael Moore would have you believe, it is not a panacea.

[bluestateguy]

1. That's fine, but who is Danny Williams?

Because if you are not famous you're nobody and you're nobody if you aren't famous.

[Kyril Enko]

6. He's the Premier of Newfoundland

Think "Governor of Maine" and you've pretty much got it.

[marmar]

2. "Despite what Michael Moore would have you believe, it is not a panacea"

I don't think that's what he tried to do.

[gratuitous]

3. Wow, wealthy politician doing what he wants to do

Stop the presses.

[HeresyLives]

7. 'Not acceptable'

The number one phrase used in Canada.

[Oregone]

15. I thought that phrase was "Sorry"

[HeresyLives]

4. He could have had the surgery in Canada.

Faster recovery time, no scar...but risk of a stroke.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/02/23/williams-surgery023.html

[Captain Hilts]

5. Toronto and Montreal have excellent heart surgeons. nt

[Abq_Sarah]

8. He didn't want to wait

And knew he could fly here and have it pretty much on demand.

[Dappleganger]

11. That's probably exactly what happened.

It reminds of my mother-in-law who needed cervical fusion (just one level). Instead of using a tried-and-true common method which insurance would have paid for 100 percent, she opted to go through a new, less-invasive type of fusion which ended up costing her an addition $14,000 out of her own pocket. I've had the older method done (actually have a rod between C-5/C-6 and C-6/C-7) and the recuperation time wasn't long at all (was driving w/in two weeks, PT began 6 weeks after surgery). It disgusts me that she used that money and it only cut maybe a week or two out of her scheduled downtime, if that.

People with money get the best healthcare, no doubt about it.

[Oregone]

14. Is this a guess?

Or did you get this from a quote somewhere?

The more critical the procedure is to one's health, is the quicker it will be performed in Canada. Instantly, if it is an emergency. I'm just not particularly sure where it is stated that he checked with the four centers in Canada and received an unacceptable wait-time.

"There is a waitlist in Montreal of up to three months, but urgent cases can get the surgery right away, Jeanmart said."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/02/23/williams-surgery023.html#ixzz0gQooysYk

Maybe he didn't have an urgent need and wanted to jump the queues with his money. I guess thats his right, but it isn't something a public official can just quickly justify away.

[Abq_Sarah]

16. They may not have thought it was urgent

But when it's your heart, it changes your perspective doesn't it?

[Oregone]

20. Well if it was my heart, I probably would of just picked the lower risk procedure

But whatever. To each their own. If he wants to blow his money...

[anonymous171]

9. The US health system is great, if you can afford it.

That money part is what makes it so incredibly unjust and why reform is a moral necessity.

[Kyril Enko]

12. You are correct, sir!

After all, Drug Rush TOLD us the he had received the best health care in the world!

[Dappleganger]

10. Repair is ALWAYS preferable to replacement, whenever possible.

My mother had a heart valve defect and due to bad doctor's advice ended up having to get a replacement because the valve was damaged beyond repair. They chose a mechanical valve, requiring her to go on blood thinners for the rest of her life. She was 64. At 66 she had her first stroke and was dead within a year. There was absolutely nothing which could be done for her because if she'd stopped taking the blood thinners she'd throw clots around the heart.

You just don't ever want to get to that point.

Recovering from major heart surgery is very big deal, and there are less invasive procedures being used down in Miami which greatly reduces the risk of introducing infections. As a matter of fact, Mom had to have her first valve replaced within 3 weeks because she contracted not one, not two, but FIVE different infections (one of which the CDC could not even identify). She nearly died then, too. All of that could have been prevented if she'd had a minimally invasive, valve repair done at Johns Hopkins.

[Oregone]

13. "not a panacea" -- A policy conclusion based on actions of a conservative politician?

This same procedure was available in Canada. Don't be fooled so easily

And I don't think MM ever suggested this system was a panacea, although he exemplified various aspects of it. Most notably, that *everyone* has access to health care as a right, and its a right that will not bankrupt you. That alone puts their health care in a whole other class than the US.

[anonymous171]

17. EXACTLY. Moral Justice trumps everything,. nt

[tkmorris]

18. Comparing health delivery systems is meaningless to the rich

If you have enough money you don't worry about things like socialized care versus private insurance, or anything in between. You go where you can get what you deem to be the best care you can get, and it doesn't matter if that facility and doctor is in Canada, the US, or Outer Mongolia.

To those who have the money health care delivery systems are completely meaningless. It's the REST of us for whom it becomes a matter of life and death.

[No Elephants]

19. The American health care system works for those with money and/or great health insurance. Surprised?

[kenny blankenship]

21. If his heart's not really in Canada, maybe he should just stay gone?

[ecstatic]

22. That happens here too--sometimes people with insurance (public or private) choose to pay cash

or get loans for a better surgeon/doctor who is a leader in a certain field.