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Jewish World Review April 22, 2005 / 13 Nisan, 5765 Government determined to protect you from every possible mistake that you, your health care providers or the pharmaceutical industry might make — and then bill you for it By Drs. Michael A. Glueck & Robert J. Cihak
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
During the latter years of World War I, the Germans said, "The situation is
serious but not hopeless." To which the Austrians replied, "The situation
is hopeless but not serious."
This week your Medicine Men invite you to make the choice for yourself
regarding a situation so ludicrous that we know not whether to protest it
or simply yield to its absurdity. True, it is a situation that affects only
two kinds of people: those who need medical care now and those who will
need care later. At the very least, this includes all of us.
So here's the situation.
In the matter of medical care, your government considers you a fool and is
determined to protect you from every possible mistake that you, your health
care providers or the pharmaceutical industry might make. They do so by
hyper-regulation, micro-management, yanking drugs off the market on the
basis of dubious evidence of harm, and prosecuting physicians whose only
crime may have been giving patients legal medications that they needed.
At the same time, the trial lawyers are just hoping that doctors, hospitals
and drug companies screw up and you get hurt, so they can profiteer off
your misery.
One result is that medical care gets more and more expensive as everybody
practices "defensive" medicine, that is, ordering all those unnecessary
tests, and procedures to cover one's gluteus maximus.
Another result is that necessary medical care gets harder and harder to
come by as doctors let fear govern their practices and practice the
'ultimate' in defensive medicine: refusing to perform certain procedures or
prescribe certain drugs, or moving to where the insurance premiums are
lower and the lawsuits less ferocious, or by getting out entirely.
Meanwhile, federal caution and meddling creates endless
whatever-I-do-will-be-wrong situations for patients.
Consider the following:
A recent report by noted human resource consultants Tillinghast-Towers
Perrin finds that every American pays a "lawsuit tax" of $845 per year, or
$3,380 for a family of four. This is the amount that the cost and fear of
lawsuits adds to everyday consumption. In other words, it is the amount of
money you pay for the privilege of living in a lawsuit-terrified,
cover-your-behind medical system and society legally out of control. A
goodly chunk derives from medical care and product liability.
Comments Maryann Maloney, Executive Director of Orange County [California]
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (OCCALA), "This is a hidden cost that
everyone pays. ... Lawsuits increase the cost for food, healthcare, and
services that we use everyday,"
That hurts. But don't expect to get much pain relief.
Prescription Painkilling Drugs:
Indeed, the government has been making sure that relief keeps getting
harder to find. Of late, the FDA has maneuvered drug companies into taking
pain-killing drugs off the market because of what might happen, or because
of studies that show linkages that might prove to be significant.
To further guarantee future patient pain and non-prescribing of legal
prescription pain medications by terrified physicians, in a northern
Virginia courtroom on Thursday, April 14, a federal judge sentenced
Virginia pain management doctor William Hurwitz, M.D., to four 25-year
sentences and more than $1 million in fines for prescribing legal
painkillers. Dr. Hurwitz will be eligible for release at age 84.
Prescription NSAIDS:
In the area of prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Merck
has pulled Vioxx and Pfizer has pulled Bextra because they contain "cox-2
inhibitors," which may raise the risk of heart disease and stroke. Mobic
was recently immobilized. Another cox-2 inhibitor, Pfizer's Celebrex,
remains on the market but with major stark warnings. They advise using
Celebrex only after failure with other pain and anti-inflammatory
medications. But didn't they just advise against using the "others" also?
The FDA must love a good Catch-22!
Non-prescription NSAIDs:
Meanwhile, the FDA has decided that almost an entire category of
non-prescription NSAIDs might carry a risk of cardiovascular damage and
should now carry warnings. These NSAIDs include ibuprofen drugs such as
Motrin, Advil and Medipren; naproxens such as Aleve; and ketoprofens
(Orudis, Actron).
Aspirin does not get a warning and gets an A.
They call this erring on the side of caution. But the question arises: Even
if elevated risk levels are proven, who decides whether or not the risks
are worth it? A man or woman in chronic, debilitating pain or a few people
on an FDA panel? For many patients, the choice is easy and they want the
freedom to decide for themselves. Some patients are already ignoring
warnings. Life without pain is worth it.
And has anyone considered:
Maybe it is time to infuse some fresh blood into the FDA. It appears the
"Mighty FDA Medical Players" have thrown in the towel after realizing that
they can't win in our current second-guess-later system. Vioxx lawyers now
infect the Net with every click and byte.
The time has come for us as a nation to start making intelligent decisions
and stop the harmful practice of always having to cover our posteriors in
health-care delivery and all of society. By the way that ladder you paid
$125.00 for really cost $25.00 before the legal surtax. We must end the
legal blackmail that rules our lives and land.
The situation is serious but not hopeless.
Editor's Note: Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D. wrote this week's commentary
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., is a multiple award winning writer who comments on medical-legal issues. Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Both JWR contributors are Harvard trained diagnostic radiologists. Comment by clicking here. © 2005, |
Mitch Albom | |||||||||||
