Malpractice

Treating the Symptom

This is one of the worst things that a health care provider can do – treat the symptom instead of the disease. Take, for instance, a patient with chronic headaches, Unbeknownst to the patient, these headaches are being caused by a slow-growing tumor on their brain – a serious matter, but treatable in it’s current state. Let’s say that this patient brings these chronic headaches to the attention of their physician, who does no diagnostic work, but who simply prescribes pain killers to mask the headache symptom. As time passes, the untreated tumor continues to grow, and the headaches increase in their intensity. The patient’s doctor still neglects to do any type of diagnostic work, but simply increase the dose of painkiller. Finally, the patient reaches the point where any safe dose of painkiller fails to mask the symptoms, and the tumor, now life threatening is finally revealed.

What a terrible tale. This is an example of gross medical malpractice – the physician clearly did not follow established protocols and failed to diagnose the disease while it was still in a treatable state. I don’t think that any jury would decide this case in favor of the provider – it is that clear cut. However, in a much smaller way, the patient holds some of the blame, as they sat passively by while the provider mismanaged their serious medical issue.

So, by the same logic, our legislators are just as guilty as this doctor is when it comes to ‘treating’ our national health care crisis. Time and time again, they are proposing solutions that treat the symptom – run away health care costs – without addressing the underlying disease – rampant profiteering and bureaucracy. While national health care reform addressees some of the issues with our present system, it does too little –too late, to have any lasting effect. Unless we start addressing the root causes of the health care crisis, the cost of health care as a percentage of our incomes will continue to rise at an unmanageable rate. Ultimately, even with the passing of national health care reform, we will be in the same condition that we are in today in just a few short years time.

Meaningful health care reform will only come once someone in our legislature has the testicular fortitude to oppose the lobbyists and special interest groups and attack the diseased parts of our current system. While the health insurance carriers are taking a minor hit with the new legislation, it really amounts to little more then a slap on the wrist. Indeed, bcause of the anticipated increase in subscribers, they may actually benefit from the new bill. Meanwhile, the other guilty parties - the pharmaceutical companies and the legal community – have escaped relatively unscathed. In fact, it seems that the pharmaceutical companies will actually reap financial windfalls from the reform act.

Significant reform will only occur once our leaders start turning a deaf ear to the lobbyists and special interest groups with their spin doctors and trunk loads of cash. Unfortunately, I doubt that this will ever happen unless the people – you and I – start holding our politician’s feet to the fire. Like the patient with the headaches, it is our responsibility to make sure that our ailing system receives the treatment it needs before the problem becomes terminal.

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