uncaring ER docs

So....your name is Teresa Heinz Kerry. You get a little sick to your stomach on a long holiday weekend. YOU get 911'd to the ER where extensive tests are run on you and you are admitted for observation. If it were me ...they would have handed me a plastic bag and sent me home with some Compazine.

So....your name is Bill Clinton. You get 4 days in the hospital pre-op and so far 4 days post-op...oh yeah and you're not even 60....but...you are 85 years old...go in the same day for quadruple bypass and are sent home after the 3rd midnight.

So....you're a little old man on an Alzheimer's floor. Chest pains over the weekend..spiking a temp....fell on Tuesday and hit your head hard on a linoleum floor. You get 911'd out to the hospital. The ER doc sends you back with in 2 hours without doing any tests, because he can tell there is nothing wrong with you. Perhaps that doctor should have been the one to look at Mrs Kerry.

:angryfire

I don't know what you're trying to imply, but the rich and powerful of every political party and persuation receive preferential tx. That includes republicans, as I'm sure you must be aware.

yes put president Bush in there... or Dick Cheney (how many bypasses has he has anyhow)

don't make a political statement and leave in only halftruths in it...be bipartisan at least.

i did not get the impression that capecod was exemplifying democratic preferences; rather contrasting the star tx that famous people receive vs the shabby tx that 'nobodies' receive.

i've read enough of her posts to know of her integrity.

furthermore, it's insulting to think that one would fume over one party getting better treatment than the other. :stone

leslie

It's one sided at least Leslie. And I don't think it's all about "uncaring ER docs" so much as it about a system that caters to people with means, period.

exactly deb.

the medical treatment that people of affluence and stature receive is indeed one sided.

has nothing to do with political persuasion.

exactly deb.

the medical treatment that people of affluence and stature receive is indeed one sided.

has nothing to do with political persuasion.

Isn't that what I said? :)

Isn't that what I said? :)

yes christine....i just didn't understand why politics had to come into it in the first place.

plus i am SO not in the mood for debating about politics or anything else.

you've been experiencing a lot of stress and pain lately.

deb has been experiencing her own stressors, which she too, wrote about.

as i have been too.

i just don't want this thread being blown out of perspective secondary to (possibly?) displaced feelings and bad moods.

and btw, i ABHOR, DETEST, DESPISE AND AVOID dentists at all costs, and have had to endure some extremely painful conditions and procedures because of my aversion to dentists. :kiss

and capecod, again, yes yes yes, it totally sucks about the priorities that powerful people receive.

sometimes one has to wonder how brown a nose can get.

I wasn't implying anything political...but those 2 were just in the news and fresh on my mind. Vote for whomever you want; it really makes no difference. Treatment of older people won't change until WE make it change. And, Earle, thanks for the kind words.

Treatment of older people won't change until WE make it change. And, Earle, thanks for the kind words.

I agree with you 100%....you are absolutely right! I can't tell you how many times medics, Er docs, ER nurses, floor nurses...gave me or my fellow LTC nurses a "why did you send this patient to US?" attitude. I guess if youre an 85 yo Medicaid recipient, you just aren't worth anyone's time or energy.

We have regulations out the wazoo about how we can "care" for the elderly, but they don't really help at all if people's general attitude about the elderly don't change.

(BTW, I don't think that Cape Cod meant anything political, at least I didn't see it that way........the 2 major stories in the news just happened to be about Dems......)

ironically we were having a similar conversation like this at work. it is sad, but a very true reality in america's health care system. at our hospital, if a doc or a member of his family is admitted to our emergency room the red carpet is definitely laid out. i am nice to all my patients, regardless of status so it really gets under my skin that people think only the rich and/or famous deserve excellent healthcare. what about my family? we aren't rich, but we are hard working everyday people. preferential treatment to select groups of people also covers up the REAL problems in healthcare, like the nursing shortage. bill clinton was probably saying "what nursing shortage? i saw tons of nurses while i was in hospital". of course he knows that he was receiving special treatment but it still doesn't help the fact that "normal" people receive less than perfect healthcare everyday.