Free Republic

No, don’t you get it? Ron Paul is an “America blamer”, or he “hates freedom” or (my favorite) “a liberal”.

Whatever. I’m not even a huge fan of the guy but I’m disgusted by Rudy’s pandering antics. He straight up lied about what Paul said in order to get the crowd on his side despite being pro-choice and pro-gay.

Our actions outside our borders do have consequences and unless we’re going to invade and occupy every two bit dictator from Zimbabwe to the Malaysia it’s time we started dealing with our own problems instead of worrying about nation building and “democracy spreading”.

MRIs are referenced like you’re looking at the top of the person’s head. The lateral margin of the lateral ventricle means the area of tissue where the brain meets the ventricle (which is, after all, just an open space). Radiology reads aren’t designed to explain everything that’s in the MRI, they’re designed to draw your attention to certain things when you’re actually looking at it, so not all the information needed to say more is there.

It is entirely possible that the MRI looks benign. At some point the question becomes one of what knowledge is going to affect. If your blood pressure and cholesterol are under control, knowing there was a small infarct there isn’t going to change medical management at all.

But if not knowing is bothering you then make an appointment with your PCP and ask him to review the MRI or talk to the neurologist first. At the least they can give you an explanation of why they made their decisions.

So wait, we are conservatives, right? That means we’re not supposed to support “feel good” legislation that, when studied, appears to have no discernable effect, right?

This appears to be the equivalent of lighting 50 million dollars a year on fire. I can’t fathom how anybody who believes in limited government would support it. Parents should be educating their kids about sex, it’s both right and more effective.

I’m sorry, but this is simply a lie or you are mistaken. There are billing codes for everything a physician does, and a half hour full physical exam and history bills for less than 200 dollars, let alone 1000.

You know, I might rather have him than Giuliani. Socially they’re pretty much six of one half a dozen of the other, but Bloomberg really does seem more competent and a more effective leader. He’s done a good job in NYC and he is good about taking responsibility for mistakes and failures that occur on his watch. Obviously he’s weak on all the issues Rudy is weak on, but then Giuliani is allegedly leading polls, so...

That sounds highly unusual. Was there a reason you could not go to another center? My patients usually get started on their rad regimen within 2-3 days of seeing the rad oncologist, with the exception of a few highly experimental treatments. Time is tumor growth and a waiting time of weeks is unacceptable.

this is sad. 5 linacs for an entire province? my hospital alone has five linacs. of course, we like to start treating the patients BEFORE their cancer metastasizes. I understand the patients often prefer it that way.

I notice how quickly he glosses over the entire issue of AIPAC providing classified information to Israel. In fact he never even addresses it directly. Just as I would support CAIR being labelled as a foreign lobby if it is going to pass on support or info to Muslim governments, AIPAC should be held to the same standards. Of course the difference is that nobody cares about CAIR and AIPAC is probably the most powerful lobbying group in the country.

Israel in general is not really something that concerns me much. Whether AIPAC has an undue influence on US foreign policy is. Our foreign policy should be aimed at one thing and one thing alone - the best interests of the US. To the extent they're aligned with Israel, great, to the extent that they're not, AIPAC is a foreign lobbying organisation.

I wouldn't call the amount spent on prostate cancer a "pittance" by any means. It is one of the best funded diseases in the US. And it's pretty funny that you would choose Hep C as an example of where money should be spent so as not to "take the risk out" considering the primary means of transmission is sharing needles.

AIDS probably is a little overhyped. But that is a result of the publics interest in it being manifested in government funding priorities (hello democracy), not some gay agenda.

Of course. "Cost" + quality means that no patient would ever decide based on cost alone, so they hope bundling them together will blur the issue.

Think about the implications of this for a moment: they are GIVING MONETARY INCENTIVES TO DOCTORS TO TREAT YOU LESS. I don't know how to break it down any simpler than that. They (obviously) don't care about quality, they want less spent per doctor.

Health insurance companies truly represent the worst hybrid of government regulation and capitalism imaginable. When the government eats them up for socialized medicine I almost won't care.

The tin foil hat crew would like this to be another example of the evil drug companies. The reality is that it's damn near impossible to get people to take their drugs as directed when they DON'T cause serious, discomforting side effects every time. It's like Pavlov's dog, niacin compliance rates are pretty terrible.

Ahh, another reminder of why I didn't go into primary care.

As nauseating as it is, I can't use illegal immigration as a dealbreaker. Even if we elect the biggest amnesty pinko, at least he can hold the fort on other issues. If there were a Republican Congress it would be a completely different matter. If we lose this Presidential election we will literally enter socialism full bore.

But will Medicare cover reimbursement for people driven off a bridge?

How exactly is it constitutional for a tax to target one specific profession? Is it meant to be something you must pay to participate in Medi-Cal? I don't understand how they can pass a tax on all physicians any more than they could pass a special tax on all CEOs.

A tiny tear rolls from my eye as the smallest fiddle plays plaintively for them.

You mean we could lose the benefits of professional Washingtonites? The horror! Our nation only survived without them for a few hundred years on pure luck.

I should note that I am in favor of licensed midwives, though I have seen enough complicated births that required an entire OR team that I wouldn't use one.

That sounds about right to me. There's no reason why a woman shouldn't be able to choose whom she wishes to help her deliver her baby.

By that statement I take it you mean that there's no reason anybody shouldn't be able to surgically operate or practice medicine on another person without any kind of license? Because that's effectively what this is, only worse, as it affects the life of an innocent child -- hence the interest of the doctors and nurses who will have to treat the anoxic, brain damaged baby.

I have no idea why this is even an issue. I suppose it's just hippie earth-motherism taken to its logical extreme. Nobody seems to raise a fuss when people get arrested for doing lipo without a license and that just threatens the excessively vain, but apparently it's A-ok to roll the dice on your kid with some person who has no required education or experience in obstetrics.

We are responding to this the wrong way. We ought to support this research... and presto, within our lifetimes the entire "homosexual debate" will disappear. By definition the homos will not reproduce much and the heteros will of course tend to prefer their own orientation. Problem solved with minimal conflict.

I think athletes are more reasonably paid than CEOs. With athletes there is a direct correlation between success and compensation and you can clearly see how much money their efforts are generating. CEOs (of the ultra-high paid, hired gun type) tend to be paid hugely whether or not they perform and hired based on guesswork about whether their previous success was due to luck, situation or talent.

I actually have no problem with this. This is perfect. States should be the "laboratories" of the US.

The only way socialized healthcare will get through is if they manage to foist it on us all at once. If they do it one state at a time, when the time comes to spread it everywhere people will see rationing and waitlists in other states and they will FLIP OUT.