October 13, 2005

Bird Flu Basics

My wife and I have had a few discussions of late about the avian flu. With the recent genome mapping of the 1918 flu showing that it was an avian flu, and news of more birds being found with it, this has been a big topic in the media. Google's blog has a great primer on the avian flu and what it might mean. This is informative reading, suggested for all.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2005

Why I'm Glad We Have Private Health Care

Calls continue every day, from people who don't know any better, to nationalize America's health care system. They believe, wrongly, that health care could be provided better and cheaper if it was freely available to all, and paid for through taxes.

The problem is, socialized medicine (referred to as "single payer" by its supporters) is a horrible system that actually results in universally unavailable health care, instead of the ease of access that we have now. Cuba's hospitals, for the most part, aren't up to the standards of America's prisons. The national health care system in Britain is in collapse. Canada's health care system only survives because it has a private option available, that of driving South to America for health care.

Indeed, in Canada, a person needing a MRI is forced to wait at least six months for the procedure. This is because MRI machines are expensive, and can break the budget of the national health care system if they provide them to even half of the nation's hospitals. In America, MRI machines are in almost every hospital. There are MRI clinics, as well, which increases the availability of this particular test. Because we have a private health care system, we have easy access to this important test.

My son fell, recently. In the fall, he ruptured his spleen. Through a series of tests, it was determined that no surgery was necessary, and he was able to keep his spleen. One of these tests was the MRI. Using the MRI, the doctors could see that there was not a major amount of bleeding into the abdomen, and with a few days of close monitoring and blood tests, the boy was out of the hospital in no time, back to his fun.

What if we lived in Canada? Having to wait six months for an MRI in this situation would have meant NO MRI. Having no MRI would have meant an inability to accurately determine the level of bleeding. Undoubtedly, the result would have been a splenectomy. In this case, a splenectomy would have been unnecessary surgery.

Around these parts, unnecessary surgery is another way to say "bad health care."

We have the single best health care system in the world. We have the best drug research and production in the world. We have easy access to quick and high-quality health care. Heck, the only people who are getting lesser quality health care in America are those relying on our ongoing "single payer" plans such as Medi-Care, Medi-Caid, government-run-hospitals, government-run clinics, and Veteran's Administration. I do, at least, get to hear about improvements in the latter, since proponents of single-payer health care started losing power in government.

If we, like Canada, adopted socialized medicine, what border would we cross for quality medicine when the waiting lists started?

Posted by Lockjaw at 6:13 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 3, 2005

After 10 Years, Donald Herbert is Back

During a house fire in December of 1995, firefighter Donald Herbert was buried in a collapse. He went without air for several minutes, and emerged from the fire brain damaged and in a coma. The coman lasted for two and a half months. Afterward, the brain damage kept him blind, with no awareness of his surroundings, and unable to communicate. For almost 10 years, he was in this state. Saturday, Donald Herbert suddenly said, "I want to talk to my wife." What followed was a 14 hour conversation with his wife, four sons, family and friends.

Donald Herbert is back. Good thing his wife wasn't trying to get rid of him, like Michael Schiavo did with his wife. How many people argued strongly that Terri Schiavo had to die? Good thing they didn't know about Donald Herbert.

Hat tip to Decision '08 on this one.

Posted by Lockjaw at 12:29 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 22, 2005

Being Overweight is NOT Such A Killer

Finally, the Federal Government has come around and admitted something that many of us took for granted already. Being overweight is NOT the major killer that it has been held up to be. Being overweight is NOT the #2 killer in America. Being overweight has NOT killed nearly 400,000 people per year. Being overweight HAS been used as a people-control issue by the liberals for no good reason. This article gives the details.

Another big liberal issue defeated by the facts. It won't matter, of course, because liberals have NEVER cared when the facts were against them. They'd rather watch a movie with some idiot doing something stupid to make a corporation look bad than actually understand what the facts are, anyway.

In related news, the Food Pyramid is being replaced. The one-size-fits-all pyramid we've all come to know and despise is being replaced by a veritable cornucopia of pyramids, so we can be completely confused.

I would like to argue that the 4 food groups were good enough. The Food Pyramid was finalized in 1992. Before this, we had the 4 food groups and 46% of the population was overweight. By 2000, 64% of the population was overweight. Now, with the food pyramid being replaced by 12 different food pyramids, you can expect that the percentage of overweight Americans should top 80% by 2010.

Overweight and ALIVE, that is.

[Update: Daly Thoughts has issued a challenge to bloggers to tell what THEY think of this new, confusing, hard to remember food pyramid swarm. Go check it out]

Posted by Lockjaw at 2:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

What if Michael Schiavo is Right?

During the course of this Terri Schiavo case, I'll admit to taking a side. I believe that to err on the side of life in this issue is more honorable than to err on the side of death. This has led me to the assumption, based on the evidence I have seen, that Terri Schiavo's parents are in the right to fight for her to have access to food and basic care. Just for argument's sake, though, let's assume for a moment that the parents are wrong. Let's take the position, for just one blog post, that Michael Schiavo is correct.

Currently, food and liquids are being refused Terri Schiavo. They are being refused by Michael Schiavo. They are not being refused by doctors. They are not being refused by nurses. They are not being refused by the hospice facility in which Terri is being treated. The Florida Legislature, US Congress, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and US President George W. Bush are not refusing her access to food and liquids. The Florida state courts, federal 11th Circuit and the US Supreme Court are not refusing her food and liquid. Only one person is refusing to let her have nutrition, and that is her husband, Michael Schiavo. As her caretaker, this is his right under certain conditions.

The medical condition attributed to Terri that allows this to occur is called "Persistent Vegetative State." Commonly refered to as PVS, this means that Terri is incapable of any activity other than basic involuntary actions such as breathing and a heartbeat. As a PVS patient, Terri should not be able to respond to any commands. She should be unable to show emotional responses to people, situations, music or happenings around her. She should be unable to swallow food. In short, as a PVS patient, Terri Schiavo should be capable of breathing, meaningless grunts and groans, drooling, and virtually nothing else.

Nurse Heidi Law has stated that she has witnessed Terri saying the words, "Mommy," "Momma," and "help me." If Michael is right, then Nurse Heidi Law is a liar. Nurse Law also testified in an affadavit that she had fed Terri Jell-o and given her a wet washcloth with ice chips, seeing both voluntary swallowing and emotional response. This too must be a lie, and a lie under oath in a legal document at that, if Michael Schiavo is correct.

Nurse Carla Sauerlyer says she heard Terri say "pay" in reference to pain when she was in discomfort. She also says she has heard "Haaii/Hi," "Mommy," and "help me." She says she heard Terri say "help me" hundreds of times. If Michael is right, then Nurse Carla Sauerlyer is a liar.

Terri's Mediplex records state that Terri said "stop" in reference to one medical procedure being done to her. If Michael Schiavo is correct, then these records have been falsified.

Terri's family members have reported hearing Terri say "ugh-hugh" meaning yes, "ugh-ugh" meaning no, "yea" which she reportedly re-learned to speak in 2002, and "no." If Michael Schiavo is correct, then Terri's family members are liars.

If Michael Schiavo is correct, and Terri Schiavo is indeed in a persistent vegetative state, then none of these spoken words are possible, and voluntarily swallowing Jell-o is likewise impossible.

Being unable to eat voluntarily is very important. As long as Terri cannot be fed by mouth, then nutrition must be provided through medical means, this being a feeding tube that leads directly to the stomach. Withholding medical care from a PVS patient would logically, and presumably ethically, include such feeding. If, however, Terri can be fed by mouth, then refusal of such feeding would be neglectful.

The actual PVS condition is important, as well. If Terri Schiavo is merely brain-damaged, but is still capable of speaking, eating, recognizing family members, emotional response and responding to commands, then her life cannot simply be terminated at the will of her caretaker. One cannot simply refuse nutrition to a person, even if the person's mental state is that of a child.

There are no claims that Terri's condition is terminal. She is not due to die because of her condition. She is not brain-dead. She is not on a respirator. She is not in a coma. She is, Michael says, a PVS patient. PVS is the only condition claimed which would allow Michael to withhold nutritional care and let her die.

If Terri Schiavo is indeed in a persistent vegetative state, videos of her following a balloon with her eyes would have to be faked. If Terri Schiavo is in PVS, videos of her responding to, and speaking to, her mother would have to be faked.

Lying nurses. Lying family. Faked videos. Falsified affadavits. Falsified records.

So, is Michael Schiavo right?

Hard to say.

That's why I fall on the side of life.

This post has been crossposted at Blogger News Network

Posted by Lockjaw at 2:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

This is the Health Care Democrats Want in the USA

Democrats in the USA keep pushing for something they call "Single Payer Health Care." What this means is that they want socialized medicine, in which the "single payer" is the government. Recently, I linked to images from the top hospital in Cuba. Now, we have this article about health care in Canada.

" A letter from the Moncton Hospital to a New Brunswick heart patient in need of an electrocardiogram said the appointment would be in three months. It added: "If the person named on this computer-generated letter is deceased, please accept our sincere apologies."

That's not all.

"Rather than leave daughter Emily in pain and a knee brace, the Ottawa family opted to pay $3,300 for arthroscopic surgery at a private clinic in Vancouver, with no help from the government."

"The average Canadian family pays about 48 percent of its income in taxes each year, partly to fund the health care system. Rates vary from province to province, but Ontario, the most populous, spends roughly 40 percent of every tax dollar on health care, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

"The system is going broke, says the federation, which campaigns for tax reform and private enterprise in health care.

"It calculates that at present rates, Ontario will be spending 85 percent of its budget on health care by 2035. "We can't afford a state monopoly on health care anymore," says Tasha Kheiriddin, Ontario director of the federation. "We have to examine private alternatives as well."

Socialized medicine was a failure in the Soviet Union. It is a failure in Cuba. It is a failure in Canada, and it's a failure in Britain. Of course, nothing energizes a Democrat like failure, so they want to institute socialized medicine in the USA as well.

Ask Terri Schiavo if she wants the Democrats in charge of her health care.

Hat tip INDC Journal.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Judge Refuses to Insert Terri Schiavo's Feeding Tube

Fox News is reporting that Judge James Whitmore of the US District Court has refused to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted pending the upcoming court case. Whittemore is a Clinton appointee.

An important point to understand here is that the feeding tube need not be inserted. The feeding tube isn't what is being refused Terri by her husband. Food is. According to Dr. William Hammesfahr, a Nobel Prize nominee close to the case, "They are truly withholding food from a person who is awake, alert, and can eat and swallow."

"Terri’s not that bad," Hammesfahr said. "She is like a child with cerebral palsy. She can speak. At least when I saw her, she would speak very slowly. She would sort of form words, she would move her arms and legs at command. She could understand questions in English.”

This article was found via Blogs for Terri, one of the best sources for information about the case.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Starving the Dog - Starving the Wife

If I decided to withhold food and water from my dog, and the government found out, I would be hauled away in handcuffs and charges would be filed. Michael Schiavo decides to do the same for his wife, and not even the animal rights activists will stand up for her, much less the judge in the case.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Terri Schiavo Story Far From Over

Yesterday, the decision was made to withhold food and liquids from Terri Schiavo and start the slow, painful process of starving her to death. On hearing the news that she was to be killed, Terri cried out. Barbara Weller told Terri, "Just say you want to live." To this, Terri yelled, "IIIIIII WAAAAAAAA" loud enough that it caused a police guard to remove everyone else from the room. Terri's family, except for her "loving husband," took this to mean she wants to live. Good news may be in the pipeline, though. The US Senate has reached a compromise that could restore Terri's feeding. Of Congress' intervention, Michael Schiavo said, "They should be ashamed of themselves."

Maybe Congress SHOULD be ashamed for taking questionable actions in constitutional terms, but Michael Schiavo should be more ashamed of killing his wife, in my opinion.

As always, follow the story at Blogs for Terri, and Terri's Fight.

[Update] President Bush will be returning to Washington, DC in order to be around for a quick signing of the bill.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Persistent Vegetative State Misdiagnosis Proof for Terri Schiavo

From the National Institute of Health website on Coma and Persistent Vegetative State:

"A persistent vegetative state (commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as "brain-death") sometimes follows a coma. Individuals in such a state have lost their thinking abilities and awareness of their surroundings, but retain non-cognitive function and normal sleep patterns. Even though those in a persistent vegetative state lose their higher brain functions, other key functions such as breathing and circulation remain relatively intact. Spontaneous movements may occur, and the eyes may open in response to external stimuli. They may even occasionally grimace, cry, or laugh. Although individuals in a persistent vegetative state may appear somewhat normal, they do not speak and they are unable to respond to commands."

Video #1 - Terri asked to open her eyes link
Video #2 - Dr. Cranford, who insists Terri is in PVS, asks Terri to follow a balloon with her eyes. link

Michael Schiavo has, as I understand it, refused to give up custody of his wife to her parents. One reason for this may be that misdiagnosing Terri as suffering from PVS might be grounds for malpractice on the part of the doctor performing the diagnosis, and failure to properly care for her as her protector could open him up to lawsuits as well. I'd love to hear what the folks over at The Volokh Conspiracy think of that idea.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cuban Medicine Truth Photos

Although the Democratic Party has become an organization almost bereft of ideas in recent years, there are still a couple of issues that they staunchly support as ideals. One of these is a single-payer medical system, aka Socialized Medicine. Frequently held up as examples of this idea are Canada, Britain and Cuba. Canada is where heart surgery patients wait for months for their turn to receive surgery that patients in the US sometimes have to wait hours for. Britain 's health care system has been in financial collapse for years. Cuba, to hear the liberals talk, is the dream society when it comes to health care. Over at Captain's Quarters, there's a good sequence of photos that show the quality of the facilities in the hospital that is considered Cuba's jewel in the crown of socialized medicine. Check them out, and ask yourself if you'd willingly take your child to the doctor in such a place.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack