Japanese woman dies searching for care

AP via Yahoo! News ^ | 12/28/07 | CHISAKI WATANABE

[libertarianPA]

TOKYO - An 89-year-old woman died after an ambulance crew spent two hours trying 30 hospitals before finding one that would accept her for treatment, Japanese officials said Friday.

The woman's family called an ambulance early Tuesday morning after she became ill with vomiting and diarrhea, said Hideto Matsumoto, a fire official in Tondabayashi City, Osaka prefecture (state).

The ambulance crew and local fire department contacted 30 hospitals before one finally said it could admit her, Matsumoto said — about two hours after her family had called for an ambulance.

The woman's heart stopped when she was taken to Osaka Minami Medical Center, according to Matsumoto.

She was resuscitated at the hospital but died Wednesday, according to hospital official Hiroshi Tone, who refused to disclose the woman's name or cause of death, citing privacy reasons.

Matsumoto said the other hospitals rejected the woman because they were full or their doctors were not immediately available to treat her.

Last year, a pregnant woman in western Japan died after being refused admission by about 20 hospitals that said they were full.

The latest case underscores Japan's health care woes, in part created by a shortage of doctors in the country's rapidly aging society. Critics say long working hours and a government policy change several years ago to keep the number of doctors down are to blame.

[libertarianPA]

Critics say long working hours and a government policy change several years ago to keep the number of doctors down are to blame.

Is this really that shocking? This is what happens under universal health care. The government forces cuts and stretches resources to try to keep costs down.

I'm actually stunned the AP brought any attention to this at all. It only shows the dangers we face under HillaryCare... not that the American public will put two and two together anyway.

[Greg F]

No mention of government health care that I saw in the article . . . of course.

[AU72]

She must have opened Hillary’s health care present.

[sam_paine]

not that the American public will put two and two together anyway.

Well. None of the idiot Republican candidates or incumbent congressmen or Bush have ANYWHERE put 2+2 together either.

A simple commercial that shows TSA screeners and IRS agents in white smocks with rubber gloves.

Cut to crowded waiting room. Nurse: "Next!"

Caption: "Do you really want the Federal Government also running Healthcare?"

[Bon mots]

The government forces cuts and stretches resources to try to keep costs down.

HillaryCare will definitely stretch resources.

[ClearCase_guy]

I'm actually stunned the AP brought any attention to this at all. It only shows the dangers we face under HillaryCare

I suspect that someone in the media isn't really grasping the facts here. They may see this as a "heartless hospital corporation" story where citizens are not given adequate coverage. Therefore (they may think) a compassionate universal health care system (a la Hillary) is the solution.

I suspect that this evidence of how disastrous these plans can be, is being used as evidence that we ought to have one.

[sam_paine]

Hey how come you haven’t done a youtube viral video of the above in #4?

[logic]

The latest case underscores Japan's health care woes, in part created by a shortage of doctors in the country's rapidly aging society. Critics say long working hours and a government policy change several years ago to keep the number of doctors down are to blame.

cause is listed pretty clearly....

[Scythian]

I thought the Japanese were very health, what are the hospitals doing completely full up with people? Perhaps Morgellons is really striking there hard?

[Minn]

I only clicked on this one because I misread it as: "Japanese woman dies searching for car".

[Paulus Invictus]

Here's a very recent experience of my daughter who lives under universal health care in merry old England. She found early this year, after a four month wait for an appointment with a specialist, that she needed a hysterectomy and applied at the only hospital she is assigned to go to. She was put on a six-month waiting list, but before the operation, she was advised to consult with the hospital's resident physician for further scheduling.

When she went to the doctor, he advised her that her reservation for the operation had somehow been cancelled and that she should apply again and wait another six months for an opening. The same hospital has gained a terrible reputation for killing off patients with mistaken treatments, shoddy care and staph infections die to the sorry state of cleanliness of the place. English health care has become like the worst third-world country.

Now, do we want Hitlery's socialized (like Britain's) universal health care run by the government? Only liberal idiots want this kind of care.

[org.whodat]

89-year-old woman died

cause of death,

DUH

[Kozak]

The latest case underscores Japan's health care woes, in part created by a shortage of doctors in the country's rapidly aging society. Critics say long working hours and a government policy change several years ago to keep the number of doctors down are to blame.

Coming to a Hospital Near You.

This ER doc is gonna be spending a lot more time on the beach if any of the Rats is elected. Mama did not raise a fool.....

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[ReformedBeckite]

Maybe she needed to give a big big tip to the ambulance driver.</humor>

[Mom MD]

and this hospitalist is retiring and opening her quilt shop the day universal health care is passed. I work long hours for inadequate pay now, I’m not doing it for longer hours and less money under Hilary. The only reason health care is surviving for now is there are enough paying patients to subsidized the medicare pts (medicare pays virtually nothing)
when everyone is government covered, health care will collapse

Get used to long lines and health care workers that do not speak english and were not trained in this country.
/rant off (sorry, you touched a nerve)

[donna]

I thought you might find this article interesting:

Anchor, FOX Business Network

ACROSS THE POND
There's No Place Like Home
What I learned from my wife's month in the British medical system.
BY DAVID ASMAN
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006785

[libertarianPA]

My girlfriend’s friend who lives in England told me of her friend’s uncle who went into an ER complaining of pains in his side. They gave him painkillers and sent him home. A few weeks later, he died of kidney failure.

Mind you - my GF and her friend are both liberals who think UHC is ulitmately a good thing, though the friend is starting to become wary of the consequences.

[socialismisinsidious]

Socialized Medicine aka Universal Health Care PING LIST

FReepmail me if you want to be added to or removed from this ping list.

[socialismisinsidious]

Japan's socialized medicine failings started becoming obvious a few years ago....many of us knew it would happen b/c we know that socialism rots from the inside out (faster at the point of a gun). Socialized medicine works for a few years (bet the average is 25) but when the costs burden becomes too much and taxes rise, populations age with no birth replacement, doctors retire and no one wants to sacrifice to replace them (why go through all that is required to become a doctor and not be rewarded?), when illegals /immigrants overwhelm, then failings become obvious. That is where Japan is...elderly population needing the system and no young people to carry the burden and doctors not able to meet bills b/c universal health care does not pay. Socialism rots.

MSM covers these stories b/c they believe that it is newsworthy in that they believe it is rare, they are shocked that something could go wrong with Japan's utopic medical system....they have not, and probably won't, figure out that it is their very ideology behind these failings and that with socialized medicine these types of stories are actually quite common. If they figure that out then we will no longer hear about Japan's medical failings (which are going to become more common).