Kendall,
I am sure you are right. It was a scandal in California about how
many hospitals were being privatized a while back. Also the bad doc I
was after was using his own small private hospital to practice bad
medicine. His license is now gone. Sometimes my view is skewed by the
fact that I work on crimes.
All the best,
linda
At 11:53 AM 4/7/2006, you wrote:
>Linda,=20
>
>No, I haven't for two reasons; there's one hospital in my town, which is
>owned by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). I think that my doctor
>may own shares in HCA, but I don't know that for a fact. Even if he
>does own shares, his interest is comparatively so small that keeping a
>patient in the hospital an extra day (or an extra month, if the
>patient's insurance company will permit it!) is not going to increase
>his dividends. In Hawaii, there may be hospitals owned by individual
>physicians, or groups of physicians, but around here, they are either
>owned by large, publicly traded corporations, or they are county owned
>facilities (which are sometimes leased to publicly held corporations).
>For my wife's surgery, we found the best doctor we could, and there is
>one hospital in the town he practices, which is community owned, and
>leased to a private hospital management corporation.
>
>As I said in my previous response, individual physicians are often at
>the mercy of insurance companies when it comes to the length of time a
>patient stays in the hospital. This is even more true for people who
>are covered under Medicare or Medicaid, because their health coverage is
>based on "diagnosis related groups" or DRG's, which limit what the
>hospital will be reimbursed for a patient admitted for a specific
>diagnosis. Under Medicare and Medicaid DRG's, the standard length of
>stay for a procedure is calculated, and the hospital and doctor is
>reimbursed based on that standard. =20
>
>I don't know how long it's been since you've been hospitalized, but I've
>had three surgeries in the last ten years, an appendectomy, gallbladder
>surgery, and arthroscopic knee surgery. In total for all of these
>surgeries combined, I spent less than 48 hours in the hospital (for the
>appendectomy and gall bladder, I went in at around 6 PM, and was
>discharged by 10 the next morning, and for the knee, I went in at 10,
>and was home by 5:30). My Dad had two heart valves replaced three years
>ago in one surgery, and spent 4 days in the hospital. Earlier this
>year, he had cancer surgery involving removing a kidney, and spent three
>days in the hospital.
>
>=20
>Kendall=20
>
>An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
>
>The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
>persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
>progress depends on the unreasonable man.
>
>-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Linda Walker [mailto:[log in to unmask]]=20
>Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 10:32 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Breaking News - Heart attack victim wins $4.5 million in
>case against Vioxx-maker Merck (long reply)
>
>David,
>
> Working in the travel industry and suggesting someone use=20
>American over United is not the same as being a doctor and placing a=20
>sick person in a hospital you own without disclosing that. That's the=20
>conflict of interest. People know she works for an airline and will=20
>be suggesting they travel on that one and they are free to search for=20
>other fares or whatever. How many times have you said to your doctor,=20
>Can I see a list of hospitals I might be admitted to? Do you have a=20
>financial interest in the one you are sending me to? Do you have a=20
>financial interest in the drug you are prescribing?
> I work for so called greedy Personal Injury attorneys and am=20
>proud of it because they try and get their clients the most money=20
>they can for their damages.
> Discharging too early is the same as keeping beds full for=20
>the wrong reasons. Both are problems. After I gave birth they wanted=20
>me up and walking right away. That's the model program now and works=20
>for most. I knew my body and that I would pass out if asked to walk.=20
>They insisted and I stood up and dropped to the floor. This was not=20
>life threatening and no big deal but in other cases it could be. I am=20
>so sorry they did that to your wife. Miserable system we are suffering
>under.
>
>All the best,
>
>Linda
>
>
> > If I
> >remember correctly Linda, you, or your daughter, work in the travel
> >industry. Should you be prohibited from owning shares in United
> >Airlines or Hilton Hotels because of that?=3D20
> >
> >Because of the way the US healthcare (read: insurance) system is
> >currently structured, doctors are often placed in the position of
> >discharging patients before they feel they are ready. When my wife had
> >a Baclofen pump placed a month ago, she was still vomiting as we got in
> >the car to go home. Her doctor would have liked her to stay another
> >day, not because it made him or the hospital more money, but because he
> >knew that our trip home (a 3 hour drive) would be unpleasant at best.
> >He'd been able to get our insurance to cover an additional 24 hours,
>but
> >they weren't willing to do more time without an additional diagnosis,
> >which wasn't warranted. =3D20
> >
> >Kendall=3D20
> >
> >An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
> >
> >The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
> >persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
> >progress depends on the unreasonable man.
> >
> >-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: ken barber [mailto:[log in to unmask]]=3D20
> >Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 10:51 PM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Breaking News - Heart attack victim wins $4.5 million in
> >case against Vioxx-maker Merck
> >
> >you only have to go north of the u.s. border to know
> >how good our privatised system is. it can't be better
> >to have people die waiting on needed care. we can't
> >afford the government running it. sorry, but, you are
> >just plain wrong here just like you are with bush.
> >sorry lynda. =3D20
> >
> >--- Linda Walker <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > Yes there are trade offs for everything. I would say
> > > these suits are=3D20
> > > a major red herring reason for our rising medical
> > > costs. I am against=3D20
> > > our privatized medical system. Medicine is one
> > > industry that should=3D20
> > > NOT be run for profit in my opinion. Doctors now own
> > > hospitals. Is it=3D20
> > > right for them to have a financial incentive to keep
> > > patients=3D20
> > > hospitalized? What about investments in drug
> > > companies? Any conflict=3D20
> > > there? I mean there are so many problems with our
> > > medical delivery=3D20
> > > system, where do we begin?
> > > We're something like 17th in our ratio of live
> > > births per 1000. Why=3D20
> > > so low? France is number one in medicine and we
> > > should look at=3D20
> > > modeling our system similarly.
> > > You may be right and I am warped from what I've seen
> > > of the bad guys=3D20
> > > including bad docs. One doctor got a huge rep as a
> > > great oncologist=3D20
> > > for curing cancer. Well it is mighty easy to cure
> > > cancer when you've=3D20
> > > diagnosed someone who doesn't have it as having it
> > > and then say=3D20
> > > you've cured that person. First she underwent
> > > chemotherapy treatments=3D20
> > > that nearly destroyed her. Then to find out the doc
> > > was lying for money.
> > > Thanks to Bush we have the best weapons in the world
> > > and people be=3D20
> > > damned. Have I vented about Bush yet today? Sorry
> > > Ken.
> > >=3D20
> > > At 02:01 PM 4/5/2006, you wrote:
> > > >But ... but ... these sort of suits are a major
> > > factor in our
> > > >increasing medical bills. I think there ought to
> > > be a low cap on the
> > > >awards given by juries.
> > > >
> > > >Kat
> > > >
> > > >On 5 Apr 2006, at 19:59, Linda Walker wrote:
> > > >
> > > >I work for lawyers on these types of cases -
> > > personal injury civil
> > > >lawsuits. Without civil law average people would
> > > have no recourse
> > > >against government or business. Yes the attorneys
> > > who take them get a
> > > >percentage of the settlement. That percentage is
> > > set by statute on a
> > > >state by state basis, always to my knowledge less
> > > than half. They
> > > >also front all the costs, experts, research,
> > > motions to dismiss,
> > > >discovery, motions to compel, and expertly prevail
> > > over a myriad of
> > > >legal problems no one thinks about. Their payday is
> > > often years away.
> > > >Most people would never have the resources to do
> > > this by the hour in
> > > >order to protect themselves and if the attorneys
> > > lose they take the
> > > >financial hit. If you think it is easy to fight big
> > > business when
> > > >they damage people, you might want to think again.
> > > Civil attorneys
> > > >have always been heroes of mine, they brought us
> > > equal rights, civil
> > > >rights, disability law and have fought to put into
> > > law just about
> > > >every other progressive idea on the planet.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > It will ALL GO to the lawyers I
> > > assume............
> > > >
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