Posted on 05/29/2009 9:46:23 AM PDT by ikka
For anyone that doesn't understand how rationed healthcare works, here is a 1-minute demonstration.
The da Vinci system is a robotic system used for MIS, minimally invasive surgery. It is cutting-edge medicine for such surgeries as prostate surgery.
Use the Surgery Finder (linked at source URL) as follows:
1. Go to the URL. Click on the radio button that says "Hospitals".
2. From the "International" drop down list, select "Canada" and click the blue arrow.
You will notice that there are 9 hospitals that have the da Vinci system; with Canada's population of 33 million, that means that the ratio is 1 system per 3.67 million population.
Back up, and instead of choosing "Canada" choose your state - in my case, I live in PA. Get the results again.
In the state of PA, there are 30; but since one is a VA Hospital, let's say there are 29 hospitals with the da Vinci system.
That means that there is 1 system for every 420,000 people in the state.
“A Simple Argument Against Canadian-Style Healthcare”
Exhibit A:
My Canadian family members...
that always seem to want to get an American-Style checkup
whenever they come to visit flyover country.
I love them enough to ask them: “You have free healthcare back
home in Canada. Why on earth do you need a checkup in the USA
that you must pay for?”
Exhibit B:
I was suprised that during the SARS outbreak, some of our doctors
in the USA at least implied that infectious-disease control in Canada
sucked compared to similar controls in the USA.
In my experience, as a non-medical type, I could hardly ever get
a physician to confirm/deny rumors of incompetence amongst one of
their select-fraternity members.
Excellent, ikka. Bookmarked for later...
Los Angeles County has more Da Vincis than all of Canada by my count.
This book gives even more reasons:
Read PDF study linked near bottom of page. This shoots down the Myths and provides improvements for our system.
For Prostatectomies, there are 2 surgeons listed in Canada. There are 6 in UTAH.
A friend of mine was skiing in Canada when he had sharp abdominal pains. He was given the choice of being treated in Canada or Medivaced to VT. He chose the latter. The surgeon, who was VP of the AMA at the time opened him up and saw a perfectly healthy pink Appendix. However there was a strong smell of Stool. He repaired the perforated Bowel. Had he stayed in Canada, they would have closed him up when they saw the Appendix and sent him back for rediagnosis. Where he would have died from Peritonitis.
There are more MRI machines in Philadelphia than in Canada.
Great point!
Having to wait 18 months for surgery (If it's allowed by the National Service) will be quite a shock for Americans.
You don't even need to go in....just cruise the parking lot, counting Canadian license plates. 'Nuff said.
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