September 10th, 2007 Toasted
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Like many California residents, I have mixed feelings about the influx of Mexican immigrants who are here illegally. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but Governor Schwarzenegger’s recent proposal to insure all children in our state regardless of their immigration status struck a nerve with me as a medical professional (there’s a great debate about it on YouTube).
I think it’s a very good idea, since even though the parents of children brought here illegally should bear the responsibility for their care, the reality is they are too busy trying to survive and make a living to think that far ahead. From a medical perspective, it’s the children who sometimes get caught in the middle.
Actually, I was impressed by an article I read from the Washington Times in the Minutemen Civil Defense Forum that tells of a hospital in Dallas, Texas, that has suggested billing Mexico for the treatment it gives illegal aliens:
“Last year, hospital officials said, Dallas County spent $76.5 million to treat people from outside Dallas. Of that, almost $27 million was not reimbursed. Much of the cost was for treating patients from adjoining counties in Texas, which Dallas County officials claim is unfair to local taxpayers. Collin County, just north of here and one of the state’s richest counties, owed the most of any single entity, Parkland officials said — about $7.6 million. County Judge Margaret Keliher said she was not hopeful that other counties — or countries — would pay up. But, she said, the county commission thought the matter should be made public and bills sent. ‘If you’re not Dallas County residents, we think where you are from should pay for your indigent health care,’ Judge Keliher said.”
I think the Judge is right about the practicality of trying to resolve this locally, but what if there was a national policy that provided universal healthcare for illegal immigrants at a billable rate for their country of origin? This solution would help deal with two problems:
1. The growing healthcare crisis for those here illegally, both in terms of actual treatment, and the rising cost to the U.S. taxpayer who foots the bill. As an office manager, I am acutely aware of the delicate balance involved with trying to maximize both patient well-being and the bottom line. The two needn’t be incompatible.
2. It would force a country like Mexico to create an economic policy to deal with a problem they seem unwilling to solve. Perhaps if there was an actual price tag to every citizen they allowed to come into our country illegally, they might work more in concert with our government to stem the tide.
Again, I’m not saying this will completely address the immigration dilemma in this country, but I think it’s a humane and worthwhile start.
Like many California residents, I have mixed feelings about the influx of Mexican immigrants who are here illegally. Governor Schwarzenegger’s recent proposal to insure all children in our state regardless of their immigration status struck a nerve with me as a medical professional.
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September 9th, 2007 Toasted
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If you really want to bring the Earth back from the brink of disaster, who should you be listening to?A. Al Gore of “Live Earth” and “An Inconvenient Truth”
B. Diane Sawyer of ABC’s “Seven Ways to Help Save the World”
C. Michael Brune of “Rain Forest Action Network”
D. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck of “CNN Headline News”
“An Inconvenient Truth” left out the most inconvenient truth of all, and the Live Earth concerts were an environmental joke (and the music was really bad, too). Ms. Sawyer’s suggestion to cut back on toilet paper is a bit of poo itself. Then, with a golden opportunity to enlighten and empower Americans, Michael Brune of the Rain Forest Action Network only highlighted the problem with even our “environmental” groups. Therefore, and by way of deductive reasoning, the answer must be … and is … (drum roll, please) … Glenn Beck. Yep, that’s right. Glenn Beck, the ultra-conservative, speaks out on CNN Headline News while interviewing Michael Brune and tells people how to really save the environment.
In speaking about the Live Earth concerts, Glenn said, “There’s nowhere in here about vegetarianism or anything like that, that would make a real impact on the environment … It is animal gases that produce more CO2 than any of the cars we’re driving.”
To which Michael Brune disagreed. Michael? HUH? Earth to Michael … Come in, Michael.
The fact is, a HUGE portion of our environmental problems come from eating meat and dairy (and from producing meat and dairy), and Glenn Beck, of all people, hit the nail square on the head. Global warming, rain forest destruction, coral reefs dying off, topsoil erosion, poisoned water and polluted air are all a result of animal agriculture, and everybody – including our “environmental” groups – refuses to connect these dots. Thanks, Glenn, for doing what Al Gore, Diane Sawyer and even Michael Brune have refused to do.
“A report released by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization last November charged that raising livestock produced more “greenhouse gases” globally than the international transportation system.” http://www.crosswalk.com/news/11543779/
The U.N. report tells of a tragedy in the making on everyone’s dinner plates, and it doesn’t stop there; global warming concerns are now keeping kids up at night. http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=24717
Kids, and all Americans, need to know that they are the empowered ones. This is not a political or governmental issue. WE, each of us, has a hand in global warming, and, therefore, its cure. If we stop eating animals and their secretions, we will stop killing the planet. It is as simple as that. Concerts galore, one million TV shows on the “Top Seven Ways …” and pseudo-environmentalists be damned. Without veganism for all people, nothing else can possibly save our doomed planet. The great news is, if we each switch to eating a vegan diet, we will no longer have to “save the planet.” Veganism allows the planet to save itself.
Major kudos to Glenn Beck
Al Gore is NOT telling people how to really save the planet, but you may be surprised who is. The solution to our planetary problems doesn’t need to be political, and you can’t even blame George Bush for this one. People created this problem and also have the power to solve it. This article can empower YOU.
Jeff Popick, known as “The Vegan Sage,” is a keen visionary & a leading expert on the diverse effects our diet has on our health & environment. Jeff is putting together a contest for students with a grand prize of one million dollars called “The Great Earth Contest,” aimed at enlightening kids on the cause of our planet’s problems - and the real solution. For more info, go to www.JeffPopick.com.
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September 9th, 2007 Toasted
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PILLS, PILLS and MORE PILLS
We are fortunate to live in a time having medications that alleviate uncomfortable, even life threatening symptoms of physical and mental disease. Yet, traditional medicine in the developed countries continue to use only two primary methods to treat patients complaints; medication, generally in the form of pills, and surgery.
When you visit your doctor and have a symptom, you get a pill, a second symptom, another pill, a third symptom still another pill with little regard for the drug interactions, neutralization of the efficacy or increased effects that one drug may have on another.
Take a woman in her sixties who has high blood pressure, headaches, and fatigue and is overweight. She will be given a pill to lower her blood pressure, another to regulate her cholesterol, another to increase her energy and yet another for her headaches, possibly another to regulate her weight. Five medications. She may get short-term relief but faces potential long-term ramifications, including possible life threatening side effects and complications.
Where and how do doctors decide what drugs to prescribe? From drug company representatives of course. They haunt offices of physicians offering bribes in the form of candy for the office staff for “just a minute to talk to the doctor,” to free samples, inscribed pens, to lavish gifts including cherished tickets to college and professional sports games, trips and dinners in fancy restaurants. In fact a whopping 30 % of the marketing budgets of pharmaceutical companies is used to “educate ” physicians and lure them into writing prescriptions for their latest banner drug. Other obvious methods of drug use seduction are television and print media ads to encourage people to request a specific medication from their doctors.
This is blatant conflict of interest.
I have personally been prescribed Vioxx, Permex, Advandia and female hormones when generic and /or cheaper alternatives were/are available. I am 74 years old and I have Type 11 diabetes with a family history of heart disease, yet the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) either warned or removed all of these drugs from the market due to the danger of causing heart attacks and strokes. What was my doctor thinking of when he put me on these drugs? Or was his decision motivated by propaganda by some drug salesman?
These designer, non-generic drugs are very expensive for both the Medicare Advantage program (ultimately the tax-payer), my insurance company, and for me with an expensive co-pay, when they paid at all. I live on a fixed income and paying of expensive drugs creates a financial hardship for me. Additionally they put me in life threatening danger of an early death.
The FDA as the alleged watchdog on drug safety is not doing its job. They are just another front for unscrupulous drug companies who value profit more than developing drugs that can save lives. They claim to be understaffed.
Take Advandia for example, it is prescribed to over 1 million Americans for treatment of Type 11 Diabetes. In an analysis by Steven Nisson, M.D. of the Cleveland Clinic and former president of the American College of Cardiology reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 21, 2007 that his analysis of 42 clinical trials suggest that the drug could cause a 43% increase in heart attack risk. Yet doctors continue to prescribe it for their patients.
Drugs are often tested by pharmaceutical companies on 25-year-old medical students who are paid to be guinea pigs, and then after approved by the FDA prescribed for 65-year-old woman or 75-year- old man who have different body weights, blood pressures, and other medical problems.
The drug testers have a lot to lose by reporting any side effects, namely that they may be excluded from the current test or future tests and thus lose the money they are paid. So even when they experience side effects they don’t report them. Even so–called double blind studies have problems in credibility for the reasons outlined above.
Congress must be more pro-active in: Overseeing the role of the FDA, regulating the conflict of interest between drug companies and physicians, price controls.
This is a serious issue for America and must be addressed immediately.
This article deals with the blatant conflict of interest between physicians and drug company’s who use guerrilla marketing techniques to influence a doctor to write prescriptions for their latest designer and very expensive drug, often without proper testing for side effects and dangerous interactions with other drugs.
Based on the book How To Talk To Your Doctor by Nancy O’Connor Ph.D. Dr. O’Connor is a retired Psychologist and former nurse. Available at http://www.lamariposapress.com , Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobel.com
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