Casualties of the medical business

[Guest guest]

> " WC Douglass " <realheath

 

> Casualties of the medical " business "

> Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:19:30 -0400

>

> Daily Dose

>

> August 17, 2004

>

>

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>

> A disturbing pair of stories for the " weird but

> true " file

>

> Because of a stalemate between our wonderfully

> efficient and

> compassionate Medicaid system and a Utah hospital, a

> young woman

> almost lost her head — literally.

>

> According to recent Associated Press item, the

> 22-year-old victim of a

> car accident needed major post-trauma skull surgery

> that involved

> removing nearly half her skull to treat brain

> bleeding and save her

> life. She came through the surgery just fine, and

> the second surgery —

> to replace the section of skull removed in the

> initial operation — was

> scheduled for one month later…

>

> But the night before this second procedure, the

> hospital canceled it

> because Medicaid (the victim had no health

> insurance) hadn't approved

> payment for the procedure yet! So what happened? The

> poor girl was

> stuck without an intact skull for nearly 4 months

> while they hashed it

> out. Aside from having to wear a hockey helmet every

> waking moment of

> this time to protect her soft cranium, she also

> experienced disturbing

> nighttime brain shifting that left her in

> excruciating pain.

>

> It wasn't until she got a local TV station involved

> that progress

> occurred — her mother's insurance company (in a rare

> turn as the

> " hero " ) stepped up and paid the bills while Medicaid

> adjudicated as to

> her eligibility. As of the time of the AP story's

> writing, they still

> hadn't decided.

>

> And in another horrific story of patient

> victim-hood, an Australian

> man was rushed to the hospital holding his own

> still-attached stomach

> in his hands, according to a recent BBC story.

> Apparently, the

> hospital removed the man's sutures and abdominal

> staples too soon

> after an earlier tumor-removal procedure. Why?

> Probably because

> recovery room time and repeated monitoring visits

> cost too much money…

>

> What do these two stories have in common? They're

> both about people

> who suffered grievously because of cost-cutting

> decisions or the

> " pass-the-buck " mentality of one player or another

> in the medical

> " business. " But what all the hospital, government

> and insurance

> company bean-counters should remember is this: There

> are real people

> at the bottom line of their balance sheets — not

> sheep or some other

> expendable commodity.

>

> Until we're more than just numbers to them,

> travesties like this will

> continue to happen.

>

>

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>

> Heartening news for sweethearts old and new

>

> As you may have noticed, a recurring theme in my

> Daily Dose missives

> over the last year or so (most recently on 5/25/04)

> has been the very

> real, very measurable effect our personal lives have

> on our health —

> especially on the ol' ticker.

>

> And in stark contrast to what the 50%-plus divorce

> rate in our country

> might imply about marriage's effect on blood

> pressure (which goes up

> when tension flares), new research shows that

> married folks who live

> with their spouses enjoyed a significant reduction

> in their risk of

> hypertension when compared to those who were

> divorced or separated.

>

> What do I mean by significant? How about an OVER 50%

> reduction in

> rates of high blood pressure.

>

> According to the recent WebMD report, researchers

> were unable to

> pinpoint exactly why such spouseless circumstances

> lead to a higher

> incidence of hypertension, but they theorized that

> social isolation, a

> lack of domestic support, and economic factors all

> played a role. The

> study also found the rate of high blood pressure

> among widowed people

> to be nearly as high as those who were divorced.

>

> My advice? Stay married — you'll live longer. Not

> just because of the

> blood pressure angle (Lowering BP isn't always such

> a crucial factor

> in heart health anyway), but for the myriad of other

> benefits you

> won't realize you have until they're gone. And if

> you've got friends

> who are on their own for whatever reason — divorce,

> separation, or the

> untimely death of their beloved, reach out to them

> as often as you

> can.

>

> The more significant and meaningful a presence you

> can be in their

> lives, the longer they'll live, too.

>

>

> Never divorcing myself from truths hard or

> heart-warming,

>

> William Campbell Douglass II, MD

>

>

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