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By Clark Baker |
Posted on 06/03/2008 9:27:58 PM PDT by thinkingIsPresuppositional
Do US Hospitals Harm Patients for Profit?
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By Clark Baker |
(Excerpt) Read more at modernconservative.com ...
It’s a business.
There was an investigation of the California Hospital involved. Also, an insurance company was involved and shares of it dropped almost 50% overnight.
Father John Corapi was in lien for a million dollar whistle blower's award -- but he has had lawyers trying to steal the money from him.
That was back in 2004. I don't know if this is over for him...
Interesting article and interesting web site.
Stay out of hospitals unless imjured. There are alternatives for every condition, and more and more alternative health care centers.
Heart patient's many lives
Redding whistle-blower went from riches to rags to robes
Father John Corapi prepared to die. A cardiologist at Redding Medical Center, Dr. Chae Hyun Moon, had told him he was at death's door unless he had immediate triple bypass surgery. So, Corapi -- once a multimillionaire who tumbled into cocaine addiction and homelessness before becoming a nationally known Catholic priest -- wrote a will and scheduled emergency heart surgery at a Las Vegas hospital, where a friend promised to take care of him afterward.
[article is from November 10, 2002 -- sfgate.com]
Lets try to get the correct link:
SFGate.com -- Heart patient's many lives [Father John Corapi] -- November 10, 2002
DOCTORS order tests, surgeries, medicines, Xrays, treatments, etc....they admit and they discharge patients....ALL with the consent of the patient or the patient's representative...NO ONE is forced to undergo treatment or take meds if they don't want to as long as they are of sound mind....
there used to be the word "capization" or something similar...DRGS is another word....the hospital gets paid only so much for each diagnosis....they would rather have patients admitted, fixed, and quickly discharged because they only get paid for so much....
its the ones that are staying on , getting expensive hosptial treatments or procedures that is COSTING hospitals so much money....NO WAY ON EARTH do hospitals hope for extra expensive care....they would rather have the patient in, out, come again...
I think people seek too much care, take too many medicines, ask for too much surgery, baby themselves way too much and come to the hospital for the silliest reasons....."I brought grandma here to the emergency room on Christmas eve night because she has had diarhea for a year now....fix it" mentality.....
if you don't want to use hosptitals...DON'T....
but stop seeing boogy men behind every door.....they don't exist.....people that work in hospitals or run them for the most part do it out of love and appreciation....same for doctors....
hospitals are a lot like all you can eat buffets....they want your business, they want you to go thru the line, but they really don't want you to linger on ...eat and get out....
hospitals want the same....treat and get out....
A newly proposed law in Canada, Bill C-51, just may outlaw up to 60 percent of natural health products currently sold in Canada - and criminalize people who use them. Bill C-51 which makes significant changes to Canada's Food and Drugs Act, was introduced into the House of Commons by the Canadian Minister of Health. The first reading on April 8 was followed by it's second reading on April 28, barely time for consumers, trade groups, and elected representatives to examine, debate, or compose official positions.
The text of the lengthy bill describes many changes to be made to Canada's Food and Drugs Act and seems to have left no stone unturned. The sweeping changes are couched in the increasingly broad language we have come to expect from bureaucratic governments. The language leaves the door wide open for extreme governmental regulation, licensing, and enforcement that would have devastating consequences on an entire industry and millions of consumers.
One of the radical changes the proposed bill offers is in terminology. The word "drug" will be replaced with the term "therapeutic product." This one change alone could effectively put all vitamins, herbs, supplements, and even some foods under the complete control of the government. The term "sell" would now include anyone who sells, buys, or uses "therapeutic products," and anyone who administers those products.
The crux of the matter for Americans.
The FDA is presently conferencing with its regulatory counterparts in Canada and Mexico to draft one set of food and drug standards for all three countries. Besides the FDA, Health Canada and Mexico's Secretaria de Salud are committed to harmonizing regulations for all three countries without any legislative oversight or public input under the Trilateral Cooperation Charter.
What effect will this have on the United States if the TCC decides to use Canada's newly overhauled Food and Drug Acts as the standard by which all three countries will now regulate and license foods and drugs? Will the United States' Food and Drug act be coopted by the implementation of the TCC's decisions? Certainly, if a convergence or integration takes place via the North American Union, chances of implementation of the TCC's decisions would be far easier and more probable.
The EU Directives Targeting Vitamins & Drugs
Food Supplements Directive: Sets maximum RDA for vitamins and minerals. This standard (dating from World War II) states the minimum dose needed to prevent malnutrition. Up-to-date research focuses on much larger doses that actively promote health rather than just prevent disease. These are known as SONAs or Suggested Optimal Nutritional Allowances. The difference between the two is significant. A person who has a disease such as osteoarthritis (painful swelling of joints) could benefit from up to 100mg of vitamin B6 per day, while the RDA is 6mg.
Traditional Medicinal Products Directive: Herbal remedies can only be licensed once shown to be safe and produced to high standards. This puts them through the same regulatory tests as pharmaceutical drugs, at estimated costs for licenses ranging from sterling 10,000 to millions of pounds. It would deter all but the largest companies from producing well-used herbal remedies such as St Johns Wort, Ginkgo Biloba, Red Clover and Oil of Evening Primrose. To qualify, products must have been on the global market since 1973 and in Europe for 15 years, thus discriminating against development of any new herbal discoveries. At a time when our search for alternatives to antibiotic-resistant pathogens is likely to focus on natural anti-microbials, restrictions on traditional medicine could prove hazardous.
Novel Foods Directive: Already in force and originally designed to regulate genetically modified foods, it now applies to everything sold under food law, including supplements. Foods that were not on the EU market before May 1997 cannot now be granted approval without submitting a vast dossier of technical and safety data. Manufacturers unable to do so will have products taken off the market.
EU Medicines Directive: Under EU definitions, products sold in a health store, including herbal teas, could be re-classified as drugs, whilst other items with physiological effects e.g. fruit juices and coffee for sale elsewhere are unaffected. The new law states that a product must be either food or drugs. Currently, the UK Medicines Control Agency adjudicates over which is which and earns 95% of its budget from licensing supplements.
Uh huh. Good luck with all that.
I have started asking for itemized bills. I had bills for outpatient treatments that I thought were too high. After asking for itemized bills, the charges went down.
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