freecounterpoint: Joys of socialized medicine, part CCXXXVII

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Joys of socialized medicine, part CCXXXVII

19 comments:

Pepe le Pew said...: right. You see, if they'd been price gauged for the surgery, this would have never happened.; 2/11/2009 10:16 PM
Arelcao Akleos said...: Nope. Private practitioners can't hide incompetence or malevolence behind the government skirt. They would have been found out long before they could "experiment" on those poor bastards. For Mengele to be Mengele he needs Big Brother.; 2/11/2009 10:24 PM
Arelcao Akleos said...: Must say, Tecumseh, it seems Socialized Medicine is a system of many parts.; 2/11/2009 10:27 PM
Tecumseh said...: Medicine is complicated business, and we could talk up and down about all the myriad factors that enter into a reasonable system and one that stinks. And yes, shit happens everywhere, in any system devised by man. That said, pinkos always bring up the supposed superiority of socialized medicine over private one -- which is blatant bullshit. Or, at the very least, debatable bullshit. We could start with the hundreds (or thousands?) of Frenchmen who died during a heat wave in state-run hospitals, since they haven't heard of AC there. But trying to argue such things with a dyed-in-the-wool leftie is about as hopeless as trying to argue about the WOT with a Binnie boy.; 2/11/2009 11:02 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: but this is anecdotal - are you saying similar incidents don't happen here ?; 2/11/2009 11:02 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: We could start with the hundreds (or thousands?) of Frenchmen who died during a heat wave in state-run hospitals, since they haven't heard of AC there

What does that have to do with socialized medicine is anyone's guess. these people died in their homes because no one, particularly their families, gave a shit about them.; 2/11/2009 11:05 PM
Arelcao Akleos said...: They died because under socialized medicine the government had the power to discard them as excess cost.; 2/11/2009 11:08 PM
Arelcao Akleos said...: Had a full blast as to what socialized medicine means when in Canada. It sucks big time. The only systems in this country which currently are that degraded are, unsurprisingly, goverment run. The VA system and the series of "County" hospitals around the country.; 2/11/2009 11:10 PM
Mr roT said...: Hey Pepe, it's gouged, not gauged. Frenchietard.; 2/11/2009 11:10 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: They died because under socialized medicine the government had the power to discard them as excess cost.

that is just silly - the main problem with our system is that nobody gives a shit whether or not anyone is going to pay the bills. You want to argue it is a free for all that hurts everybody in the end, fine. but stating that people are denied care isn't the problem.; 2/11/2009 11:22 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: Had a full blast as to what socialized medicine means when in Canada. It sucks big time.

don';t know about canada but socialized medicine provides outstanding care in sweden & norway, and awful care in britain. suggests you can't put it all in the same bag.; 2/11/2009 11:25 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: gauge; 2/11/2009 11:27 PM
Mr roT said...: That didn't look like surgery, Pepe. If it were, then I'd be all for socialized hospitals. Goddamn hookers' retainer fees are killing me in this downturn. I'm feeling positively gauged.; 2/11/2009 11:31 PM
Tecumseh said...: As usual, Pepe shills for Chirac, blaming the victims instead of the (socialized) medical system. Here is another view:

That shortcomings of the nation's health system could allow such a death toll is a matter of controversy in France. The administration of President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin laid the blame on families who had left their elderly behind without caring for them, the 35-hour workweek, which affected the amount of time doctors could work and family practitioners vacationing in August. Many companies traditionally closed in August, so people had no choice about when to vacation. Family doctors were still in the habit of vacationing at the same time.

The opposition, as well as many of the editorials of the local press, have blamed the administration. Many blamed Health Minister Jean-François Mattei for failing to return from his vacation when the heat wave became serious, and his aides for blocking emergency measures in public hospitals (such as the recalling of physicians). A particularly vocal critic was Dr. Patrick Pelloux, head of the union of emergency physicians, who blamed the Raffarin administration for ignoring warnings from health and emergency professionals and trying to minimize the crisis. Mattei lost his ministerial post in a cabinet reshuffle on 31 March 2004.; 2/11/2009 11:58 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: Care to make an argument as to why it is the socialized aspect of the healthcare system that causes the problem ?; 2/12/2009 11:04 AM
Mr roT said...: Pepe, don't be a fool. People that work for the government usually have more (sometimes infinite) job security. That security translates almost always to poor performance.

In Sweden, at least now, people are more community-spirited and decent than, say in Spain or Italy and so don't take advantage of a system that guarantees them employment.

You know how government institutions are in places where there is less community spirit.

A friend of mine in college said that socialism would be great if it weren't for the fact that there are so many evil people around. Duh.

Without evil people, every system is just fine. With them, it is much better to have people working for themselves.; 2/12/2009 5:46 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: People that work for the government usually have more (sometimes infinite) job security.

Rot - French Drs don't work for the govt.; 2/12/2009 10:28 PM
Mr roT said...: Some certainly do, Pepe. While we were in Orléans, we called an incompetent doc and he drove to the house. Charged us about $20 for the visit. I am sure he got paid more than that by someone for the service.; 2/13/2009 6:56 PM
Pepe le Pew said...: Rot- this is almost a non-sequitur: I am not making the argument that socialized medicine shields people from incompetent medical care. Just that patients benefit from receiving care regardless of their financial situation.
When I am sick, I'd rather be in the hands of a medical professional that worries only about what the best treatment for me is.
I certainly can't see benefiting from the added feedback of some pencil-pusher in a large administration shielded from lawsuits and deciding whether they want to shell out any cash to save my ass.; 2/13/2009 7:29 PM

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