Are You an Alcoholic?

Wall Street Journal ^ | 8 January 2008 | MELINDA BECK

[DoorGunner]

Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory:

A fellow veteran who sometimes exhibits these symptoms was not only “diagnosed” as being an alcoholic, he had both his VA “primary care provider” and another VA specialist try to coerce him into confessing that he is such. As it happens, I know, as a point of absolute certainty, that he is actually a life-long NON drinker.

These experts have thus executed a perfect Catch-22:

Having generated a faux “diagnosis,” they now no longer need to actually determine what is wrong with him. But... since he refuses to confess his (imaginary) alcoholism, he can be branded as recalcitrant, in denial, delusional, and/or a liar. Since he refuses to be “treated” for a condition he could not possibly have, they can merely sit back (metaphorically) and watch him slowly turn into a vegetable (or corpse). But, it is worse than that. His Primary Care Provider is now free to carp at him because he cannot do things which she pretends he CAN do, after all, he isn't really sick, just an alcoholic. Further, She is free to ignore anything he tries to say, since he is a “known” liar.

I believe that the vast majority of the people who work for the VA Medical system are good, kind hearted people, who try to do the best they are allowed to do for veterans. Nevertheless, there are far too many who are like the above Primary Care Provider; those for whom veterans are not fully human persons, who have anything of value to say, except to provide (under interrogation) fodder for another carping session. ...Not fully human. More like no-longer-useful draft animals, cluttering up her examining room, and sucking up resources which should be used on humans.

Little wonder some call it “Veteran-arian's Hospital.”*

DG

p.s. *with apologies to the Muppet Show, especially Doctor Bob.

[SunkenCiv]

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