Canada's Crumbling Medicare System

[T.G.]

I'm bumping this because more people need to read T.G.'s post in this thread. A fantastic article

Thanks for the plug ... actually, a topic like this is worth more of a book than a long article. I'm sure there's much more out there that we don't even know about ...

[styky]

I'm bumping this because more people need to read T.G.'s post in this thread. A fantastic article

Thanks for the plug ... actually, a topic like this is worth more of a book than a long article. I'm sure there's much more out there that we don't even know about ...

A book may be a top seller and people will acknowledge that we have a failed system that it is killing us but it's the only one they have and they are in my opinion afraid to change it for fear it will cost them more. More in lives and in dollars.

[Andi]

Twice in Montreal and twice in Calgary?? This makes me so angry...

[Fairwarning]

Three weeks ago a friend of mine was burnt badly on his face/head, hands and arms. He stupidly, to which he admits, throwing gas onto a fire instead of diesel. He has one of those outdoor furnaces, warms hot water through pipes to his home, and gets the fire going every morning if necessary this way.Always uses diesel but somehow(maybe half asleep)picked up the wrong can.His little boy was standing behind him but luckily he was unharmed.
He had his sister in law quickly drive him to Renfrew hospital in a great deal of pain.To his dismay, he waited 1 hr.10 mins.before a doctor even looked at him.What's more stupid?, the gas/diesel mix up or the fact that many others in the waiting area "had the sniffles" or "had a sore throat."

[T.G.]

A book may be a top seller and people will acknowledge that we have a failed system that it is killing us but it's the only one they have and they are in my opinion afraid to change it for fear it will cost them more. More in lives and in dollars.

It's an irrational fear. Things could only get better. We have to stop bowing before these medical deities. Alternative medicine, anyone?

[T.G.]

It's a bit long, so I won't post the whole thing, but there's a report on "Death By Medicine" at ...

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2004/mar ... ath_02.htm

... The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936 per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the US. (By contrast, the number of deaths attributable to heart disease in 2001 was 699,697, while the number of deaths attributable to cancer was 553,251) ...

[Tory_canuck]

http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0


More on the state of our beloved socialist health care system. ................

[T.G.]

It's literally a bloody disgrace. And to think they obstruct any private care ... unless it's an abortion clinic, of course. There are three private ones practically within sight of each other in downtown Toronto.

[T.G.]

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolo ... 3c059a7b97

Hundreds face HIV tests after Alberta hospital error
Equipment not cleaned according to standards
Jodie Sinnema
CanWest News Service
Saturday, April 14, 2007

EDMONTON--About 550 patients who had tonsillectomies, scopes involving biopsies or other operating-room procedures at a hospital in Vegreville, Alta. are being contacted by phone to get tested for HIV and hepatitis after an equipment sterilization scare in March.
Another 2,300 patients who had less risky procedures done -- such as stitches for open wounds, where needle drivers or forceps that require sterilization were used and may have touched the raw skin -- are also being contacted by mail, requesting they get their blood tested at one of three health centres in the area.
"I want to emphasize here that the risk to patients is very low," Dr. Gerhard Benade, the medical officer of health for East Central Health region, wrote in a progress report released yesterday.
"I emphasize again that the public should not be unduly alarmed about this process or the number of people being offered blood testing. While the risk is very low, we cannot guarantee there is no risk. That is why we are contacting all former patients who may have been exposed, no matter how small the risk, to offer them blood testing."
Previous news reports said about 80 people had been identified for testing.
Once patients are tested, results will be available in about two weeks.
Benade closed the equipment sterilization room at St. Joseph's General Hospital March 16 because scopes, used to examine organs inside the body, weren't being cleaned or sterilized according to standards.
Although no blood or human tissue was seen on the equipment, the potential for contamination was there since the equipment is consecutively used in different patients.
Benade also closed the hospital to new admissions because of excessively high rates of MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant superbug that can infect and kill patients.
He sent a letter to the hospital's new board of management April 9, advising he would consider re-opening the hospital to admissions after the board gives him clear assurances it has effective prevention control measures set up at the hospital.

[styky]

We have rampant MRSA infections in our hospitals and the more we know about it and how to prevent it the better. Here's a great article......

<a href=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n24/penn01_.html>Don’t pick your nose</a>

If our hospital and medical practisioners were even practising basic cleanliness none of this would be spreading. With the fact that next month my hubby has major surgery this scares the bejeezus out of me.

[OfficialPro]

http://ottawasun.com/News/National/2007/01/17/pf-3393603.html

January 17, 2007
ER wait ends in miscarriage
By CP

MONTREAL -- A pregnant woman says she had to wait more than 15 hours in an emergency room before being treated and had a miscarriage in the hospital's bathroom.

Marie-Sabine Thalerand was two months pregnant and said she went to the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital on Jan. 8 with her husband because she was bleeding. "I went to reception but they told me to wait my turn," she said.

The hospital said it's investigating and noted its emergency services were stretched beyond the normal limit that day.

I wonder if this was someone's idea of birth control, in the hospital there.

[styky]

Cancer patients at risk for dangerous drug interactions: study
SHERYL UBELACKER



TORONTO (CP) - Many cancer patients are at risk for potentially dangerous drug interactions because of the number of different medications they take for multiple conditions, say Canadian researchers, who caution that steps must be taken to avoid these dicey combinations.

In a study appearing Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto found that almost 30 per cent of 405 cancer patients studied were taking drugs that put them at risk for at least one adverse drug interaction.

At least nine per cent of the interactions could have had severe effects - including being potentially fatal - and 77 per cent were of moderate severity and could have resulted in serious health problems, the study showed. About eight per cent of patients received duplicate medications.

"Cancer is really a disease of the elderly, and a lot of the patients that we are seeing don't just have cancer but have a lot of other medical problems," said Dr. Monika Krzyzankowska, a medical oncologist at Princess Margaret and senior author of the study.

Those other conditions include high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, any of which may require treatment with a variety of medications, she said. "And, in fact, what we did find was that the patients who were at higher risk were the ones who were getting" a number of prescriptions.

One of the most common drugs to cause problems is Coumadin (known generically as warfarin), a blood thinner given to patients to prevent strokes due to blood clots.

"Coumadin is a very tricky drug, it interacts with everything, even things you eat," said Krzyzankowska, noting that it doesn't mix well with steroids, such as prednisone, which are frequently given to cancer patients.

"And sometimes it's unpredictable which way the interaction will go," she said. If warfarin levels get too high, blood becomes overly thinned and creates a risk of bleeding; too low, and a blood clot may form that could lead to a stroke.

The anti-seizure drug phenytoin also can interact adversely with cancer-related drugs, "but there were other less common interactions that we came across," she said. "We had close to 300 combinations of drugs that had the risk of interactions."

With most cancer patients seeing several health-care providers, it's not surprising that their list of drugs might contain some conflicts.

"Most people who have oncologists also have family doctors and other specialists," Krzyzankowska explained. "They're seeing a cardiologist, they might be seeing an endocrinologist for their diabetes and they're getting medications from multiple doctors."

Some patients keep a list of their medications or bring the doctor a bag of all their pills, she said. "But sometimes they come and they say: 'Oh, I don't remember. I'm on some blood pressure medication.' But the type of blood pressure medication matters in terms of this issue."

With each visit to a different physician, drugs may be added or subtracted from the list - "and eventually God knows what cocktail you end up on," she said.

"The message to me from this (study) is if you are seeing multiple providers of care, multiple types of doctors and they're all changing your medications, you should always be aware of everything you're on, so that you can tell them: 'I'm on this medication and I'm on that medication."'

Rita Kwong, Princess Margaret's pharmacy site operations manager, said the percentage of risky medication combos identified in the study was not surprising "because we know in the pharmacy profession that drug interactions are quite common."

"What we need to make sure is that the health-care providers are aware of the potential drug interactions that a patient may experience and see if anything can be done to either mitigate the risk by changing a drug therapy or by having very close monitoring of a patient."

The challenge in avoiding bad drug interactions is that no electronic database of patient records and prescriptions exists that doctors at different hospitals, clinics or offices can access. And if a patient has prescriptions filled at more than one pharmacy, that makes ensuring a safe drug profile even more difficult.

"When a patient visits a drug store, if they attend the same drug store all the time, then that drug store should have a fairly complete history of medications that are dispensed to the patient." Kwong said. "And when possible, if information is solicited from the patient, the pharmacy would also record some of the over-the-counter medications that the patient may be taking concurrently."

"The difficulty is when patients visit multiple drug stores and also see multiple physicians."

Kwong advises patients to:

-Always carry an up-to-date list of medications and their dosages, including over-the-counter and alternative therapies.

-Try to have prescriptions filled by the same pharmacy: electronic software will alert the druggist of potential drug interactions.

-Make sure to keep different doctors or pharmacists apprised of any changes in prescriptions.

"There needs to be better communication between all of the person's health-care providers, and the patient needs to take ownership of their own medication records," she said.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Peter Norton of the University of Calgary and Ross Baker of the University of Toronto agree that a better system for tracking patients' medications is critical.

"We believe that such co-ordination and communication have the potential to substantially reduce the incidence of and mitigate possible harm from the potential drug interactions that have been discovered by (the researchers)."

"In other high-risk industries, such as aviation and the offshore oil industry, many errors result from poor co-ordination and communication, and in these areas, strategies to improve team co-ordination and communication have led to reductions in incidents."

<a href=http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/070417/n0417114A.html>source</a>

[Grig]

I wonder if this was someone's idea of birth control, in the hospital there.

When we had our 3rd, 4th and 5th child at a public hospital, the nurses looked down on us and gently suggested it be our last. We had our 6th at a Catholic hosiptal and the attitude was MUCH improved.

[Fabulous Fred]

http://ottawasun.com/News/National/2007/01/17/pf-3393603.html

January 17, 2007
ER wait ends in miscarriage
By CP

MONTREAL -- A pregnant woman says she had to wait more than 15 hours in an emergency room before being treated and had a miscarriage in the hospital's bathroom.

Marie-Sabine Thalerand was two months pregnant and said she went to the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital on Jan. 8 with her husband because she was bleeding. "I went to reception but they told me to wait my turn," she said.

<b>The hospital said it's investigating and noted its emergency services were stretched beyond the normal limit that day.</b>

Right, .... and I have never called for customer service when they weren't
"experiencing higher than normal call volume".

[Grig]

http://ottawasun.com/News/National/2007/01/17/pf-3393603.html

January 17, 2007
ER wait ends in miscarriage
By CP

MONTREAL -- A pregnant woman says she had to wait more than 15 hours in an emergency room before being treated and had a miscarriage in the hospital's bathroom.

Marie-Sabine Thalerand was two months pregnant and said she went to the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital on Jan. 8 with her husband because she was bleeding. "I went to reception but they told me to wait my turn," she said.

<b>The hospital said it's investigating and noted its emergency services were stretched beyond the normal limit that day.</b>

Right, .... and I have never called for customer service when they weren't
"experiencing higher than normal call volume".

A lot of these places are outsouced, and the company that actually handles the call is paid by the call, or by the minutes spend on calls. This makes them keep staff levels low so that there is rarely someone sitting there waiting and ready for the next call to come in.