[Stoat]

"Or how about less regulation? Why do you need an MD to pull a tooth? If the boy can't get a tooth pulled for 8 days, there is a problem of access to MD's anyway. If a nurse pulled a tooth and it got infected, he wouldn't have been any worse off but if it didn't get infected he would have been spared a lot of trouble, and the state expense for his time in intensive care."

I agree that less regulation would have helped this man immeasurably.  He was passed through the system again and again until he nearly died, and the Socialized system is largely responsible for this.

As to your points about other healthcare practitioners doing a Dentist's job, in other situations I would agree although in this case I would suggest that by the time the young man was actually seen he was in dire shape and in need of far more than merely an extraction.

In the USA, we can thank John Edwards and his pals in the Trial Lawyers Association as well as the Democrats who endlessly block meaningful tort reform.  This creates an environment where costs are needlessly high and healthcare practitioners are terrified of doing any procedure that is outside of their specific training and primary job description.

[FormerACLUmember]

In the USA, we can thank John Edwards and his pals in the Trial Lawyers Association as well as the Democrats who endlessly block meaningful tort reform. This creates an environment where costs are needlessly high and healthcare practitioners are terrified of doing any procedure that is outside of their specific training and primary job description.

Yes and it is also the reason nobody who is not a licensed dentist would touch this boy's tooth in the USA.

I would also add that the trial lawyers also annihilate non-physician providers. The midwife industry is (for example) now extinct in NY City for this reason.