Posted by Racer on February 14, 2004, at 9:07:35
In reply to Re: Frustrated with the medical system, posted by Phil on February 13, 2004, at 14:48:18
I know, you're not rich, and are basically scraping by. Problem is, this is an election year, and I'm kinda paying attention again. The health insurance industry is one of the biggest problems in the country today, in my not at all humble opinion, yet another piglet suckling at the teat of corporate welfare. I'll stop that right there.
I can't get health insurance, because I take anti-depressants and have bad knees. Let me restate that, I was denied coverage based on the bad knees, and the fact that I take expensive anti-depressant drugs. In other words, I might actually *use* the insurance, so they don't want me.
I, too, worry a lot about the drugs I'm taking. I read what's going on at the FDA, and at NIH, and I think, "My god! Our own government doesn't care a tinkers damn if we all drop dead from poisons properly prescribed by our physicians, as long as the big pharmaceutical companies make enough of a profit to pay big money into the campaign coffers."
Since I don't have any continuing health care beyond my pdoc, I can't give any sort of answer to this issue. Trust, in case you hadn't noticed, is my latest self improvement project, so my next visit with him is going to address exactly that. I'm going to tell him that I'm scared, and ask him to make a deal with me: I'll tell him about the pain I'm still having that started when I started the last med, if he'll promise to consider each complaint as if it is real -- even if he doesn't think it is, I want him to promise to pretend it's real until he's figured out that it isn't. I think continuity of care is really important, especially for women who are often dismissed as hysterical by some doctors, because a doctor who's known you for five years will be able to point to your history as a predictor of whether you overreact or not. A girl friend of mine just had surgery on her shoulder. The doctor she first saw kinda patted on her the head, saying, "oh, well, you're still walking around, can't be too bad." Her regular doctor read the report from the ER doc, called her in and arranged surgery right away. Why? He knew about times she'd walked around on fractured feet and sewed up her own cuts. He knew from experience with her that her pain threshold is high, that she doesn't come in for injuries unless they're really serious, etc. If the ER doc had been the only one to see her, she might still be in debilitating pain.
OK, enough ranting and tangents. I do agree with you, Phil, and hope things are going better for you.
poster:Racer
thread:312786
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040209/msgs/313184.html