Posted on 02/04/2009 5:36:51 AM PST by lowbridge
A 69-year-old Japanese man injured in a traffic accident died after paramedics spent more than an hour negotiating with 14 hospitals before finding one to admit him, a fire department official said Wednesday.
The man, whose bicycle collided with a motorcycle in the western city of Itami, waited at the scene in an ambulance because the hospitals said they could not accept him, citing a lack of specialists, equipment, beds and staff, according to Mitsuhisa Ikemoto.
It was the latest in a string of recent cases in Japan in which patients were denied treatment, underscoring the country's health care woes that include a shortage of doctors.
The man, who suffered head and back injuries, initially showed stable vital signs, but his condition gradually deteriorated. He died from hemorrhagic shock about an hour and half after arriving at the hospital, Ikemoto said.
Ikemoto said the victim might have survived if a hospital would have accepted him more quickly. "I wish hospitals are more willing to take patients, but they have their own reasons, too," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Socialized medicine to the rescue.
Coming here soon!!
Courtesy of B.H.O’s Zimboonian medical practice.
But at least it was free!
Coming to a “healthcare” system near YOU!
What? The funeral? The undertaker's fee?
(/sarcasm)
But at least it was free!
Not really. Nothing is free, it only appears that way.
Actually that was their tax Yen at work.
I broke my shoulder in a bicycling accident in Osaka, and the doctors I went to not only had no idea what they were doing. Without even giving me an x-ray, they recommended reconstructive surgery...
So I flew back to America and got an x-ray and a brace for $10.
If Japan had socialized mortuary services, this man would be alive today. He wouldn't be allowed to die until his appointment on May, 17, 2027. Assuming he correctly filled out the paperwork, of course.
She tried to get her prescription refilled last week and was told there is no more of that medicine in Canada. Like the whole country.
Of course, it's still cheaper than it is in the US!
That kind of screwy diagnosis happens in america too.
I had a bicycle accident 2 years ago and the first hospital they took me to claimed i had broken ribs and a punctured aorta. I yelled and cussed so much at the idiots they actually kicked me out of the hospital and took me to another one. They were actually getting ready to “put me under” against my will. It wasn’t until I started threatening lawyers and lawsuits that they decided to get rid of me.
I was right. No punctured aorta. No broken ribs.
“”underscoring the country’s health care woes that include a shortage of doctors.””
Good grief! I have to pour through the internet or yellow pages to find an AMERICAN doctor in our area. I can’t even pronounce the names of most of them so I keep looking for someone who could at least speak English. Why don’t some of these go to Japan if they are in such dire need for doctors there?
Real nice. RIP.
If they cant speak english, what chance do they have in speaking Japanese?
Absolutely scary that some people are allowed to practice.
I gave myself the willies considering socialized mortuary services. No doubt abuses like the crematorium that was stacking bodies in the swamp out back would become commonplace, not to mention replacing the kindly funeral home staff with DMV employees.
“”If they cant speak english, what chance do they have in speaking Japanese?””
I didn’t want to say it but some of them have Japanese names....and Persian, Arab, Egyptian, Chinese, Vietnamese, you name it!
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