You may be right, I might have to go to a time 40 years ago to see actions that are much different. Some time after I graduated from high school - 70’s -, a friend of mine was sitting in the back of a pickup while out hunting with his family. The pickup hit a bump and he was thrown out of the pickup and landed on his head.
Brian had a catastrophic brain injury, but was put on a ventilator for a week until his parents realized it was time to let him go. Needless to say, there were no doctors calling Brian dead or trying to force the removal of the ventilator. Had they wanted to take Brian home, there would have been no argument.
The only low-cost major HMO based largely on an economic model/efficiency/law of large numbers was Kaiser in our area at that time (Brian wasn’t insured there). As hospitals and insurance carriers have moved further toward an economic model for medicine, there has been more pressure on profitability.
Medicare DRG’s came into affect in the early 80’s (reimbursing at the cost of an average stroke/heart attack/pneumonia - financial incentive to discharge people from the hospital when they were still very ill), and making profitability problematic for doctors/hospitals that kept the patient until they were ready. After that, more and more pressure was made toward preferred providers and pre-approved, appropriate tests and treatments, with reimbursement rates controlled by insurance carriers, Medicare and Medicaid.
There is also upward pressure on expenses due to purchase of the latest/greatest medical technology and class action suits by opportunistic attorneys.
Last but not least, personal success and satisfaction is largely the measure of the rightness of action - rather than personal sacrifice and doing what is right.
These are a generalization, of course. There are many fine doctors and hospitals, but medicine is often practiced for primarily personal/financial rather than altruistic reasons or a desire to serve.
This little girl is going to prove to be expensive, her parents aren’t following the godlike hospital point of view, and the hospital and their doctors want her out of their hair as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
Blessings,
“….the hospital and their doctors want her out of their hair as quickly and as cheaply as possible.”
I was with you until there…. This is not true. I know Children’s in Oakland and it is one of the finest staff and facilities around.
Look independent docs picked by the family have said their is NO brain activity. The docs at Children’s have said their is NO brain activity. This is NOT a case of ‘persistent’ vegetative state that represents heart break for the family but still has life associated with the individual. The doctors have declared her dead. Remove her from the ventilator and all mechanical means of assistance (that were put in place because of the lawyer involvement). This young girl is long gone. My heart aches for the family. My head spins at some of the families arguments as well as those here at FR.
Trust me when I tell you there is not much money in being a doc ( or a nurse for that matter). California teachers earn more than most nurses. Docs have to be for their malpractice insurance, the office staff and their insurance, the cost of facilities, and their education. The net that a doc walks away with is not that stunning. The big numbers you here of are usually those hired by the government (local, state, or fed). Private practice (group wise because solo practise is almost unheard of anymore) just isn’t that lucrative