Rhetoric:
“In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false. Like every system, the National Health Service has problems, but over all it appears to provide quite good care …”
— Paul Krugman, NY Times, August 17, 2009
Reality:
From yesteday’s U.K. Daily Mail:
Cancer survivor refused breast reconstruction operation after NHS officials dismiss it as ‘cosmetic surgery’
By Liz Hull | Last updated at 12:57 AM on 01st April 2010A cancer sufferer has condemned the NHS ‘ postcode lottery’ after health chiefs refused to fund her breast reconstruction.
Mother-of-four Patsy Parsons had a large section of her left breast removed when she was diagnosed two years ago and was told she was entitled to have it rebuilt free of charge.
But despite being recommended for a £5,000 bilateral breast augmentation operation — complex surgery which involves inserting implants and uplifting both breasts — by her consultant, the local primary care trust refused to fund it.
It said her operation is ‘low priority, routine’ cosmetic surgery, which is paid for by the NHS only in exceptional circumstances.
Last night Mrs Parsons — who has four children aged between two and 14 with her labourer husband, Robert, 35 — said she was the victim of a ‘postcode lottery’.
Guidelines state all women who undergo a mastectomy — a complete breast removal — should be given reconstruction by the state.
However, it is at the discretion of PCTs whether to fund the surgery for women such as Mrs Parsons who have partial breast removals, or lumpectomies.
‘I feel completely let down and insulted by the NHS,’ said Mrs Parsons, a cafe owner.
‘I’m not some celebrity model wanting a boob job to get more pictures in a glossy magazine — I need this to boost my self-esteem.
‘Some PCTs are saying they will fund it and some are saying they won’t. It’s not fair, it should be one rule for everyone across the country. It’s a postcode lottery.’
Mrs Parsons, 33, was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump in her breast in April 2008. Doctors told her the cancer was aggressive and she needed a partial lumpectomy to remove the tumour and 16 lymph nodes to stop the disease spreading.
They reassured her that after her treatment, which included ten months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she would be entitled to reconstructive surgery.
She also had a hysterectomy in June to improve her chances of beating the cancer for good.
Three months later Mrs Parsons, of Stoke- on-Trent, discussed reconstructive surgery at University of Staffordshire Hospital. A consultant recommended she undergo a bilateral breast augmentation and advised it would be paid for by the NHS.
So she was devastated when, in December, Stoke-on-Trent PCT refused to fund her operation.
Mrs Parsons said her breasts are disfigured and she has been depressed since learning the operation would not happen. Although she appealed, the request was denied twice more.
Dr Zafar Iqbal, of Stoke-on-Trent PCT, said he was unable to comment on individual cases, but stressed they would be reconsidering Mrs Parsons’ plight.
‘The NHS is not in a position to meet all the demands placed upon it,’ he said.
I could comment on this article. But why should I, when “The Great One” Mark Levin does his own trademark commentary on yesterday’s show:
[Edited for commercials, long pauses, and other extraneous content]
Download levin2010-03-31_80kbps.mp3
I do have to point out, the British mainstream press, as leftwing as it can often be, does not hold back in exposing the flaws and tragedies of its government-run health (s)care system. Why do I get the feeling that the American MSM is going to do what it already does. They’ve always covered for Obama and the Democrat Party and allow no dissent on their disastrous draconian health (s)care bill. When events like what happen to this British woman happen here, the MSM is going to gloss over it: “Nothing to see here, people! Just go on your merry way and keep paying your taxes to Bully Government.”
But maybe I’m just being too cynical ...
And speaking of Paul Krugman, Bob Unruh at WND reports that on Sunday morning, Krugman said this on ABC’s “This Week”:
The advisory panel which has the ability to make more or less binding judgments on saying this particular expensive treatment actually doesn’t do any good medically and so we are not going to pay for it. That is actually going to save quite a lot of money. We don’t know how much yet. The CBO gives it very little credit but most of the health care economists I talk to think that’s going be a really major cost saving.
What “advisory panel” is Krugman talking about that is going to save us a lot of money?
That would be the freaking death panel! The same panel that the leftocracy—including the two-faced Krugman himself—have been mocking Sarah Palin about for over a year. In the bill that just passed, the allegedly non-existent death panel is called the “Independent Medicare Advisory Board.”
So not only is Paul Krugman admitting that there is a national death panel on the books, but that it’s a good idea because it will save tons of money when the government lets Americans die by denying them health care! (Don’t you feel so much better now?)
Unruh cites the assessment by fellow WND writer Jane Chastain, who wrote:
“This bill sets up an Independent Medicare Advisory Board, which is to recommend cuts for the sole purpose of limiting the amount of resources going to Medicare patients. Some have called it a ‘Death Panel,’” she wrote.
“You may think this is harsh, but if this bill passes, many seniors will die prematurely because the recommendations of these unelected bureaucrats will go into effect. Congress is not required to act on them!”
“Obama … wants Granny to believe that she will be able to receive that operation or treatment that could save or extend her life. Nothing could be further from the truth! There is a reverse incentive in this bill that actually penalizes Granny’s primary-care physician if he or she is in the top 10 percent of doctors who refer patients to specialists. This puts a wedge between Granny and the doctor she trusts to act in her best interest.”
Unruh also cites a WND report by Richard Poe, who also discussed the supposed non-existent death panel:
“How will Obama cut costs? His June 13 [2009] radio speech gave some hints. Obama said his plan would provide ‘incentives’ to doctors to ‘avoid unnecessary hospital stays, treatments and tests that drive up costs,’” Poe wrote.
“And what sort of treatment does Obama consider ‘unnecessary?’ In an ABC News special June 24, he implied medical treatment might be wasted on elderly people with grave illnesses, citing his own grandmother as an example,” he said.
Obama concluded, “Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller.”
Poe also documented how such health care limits already are being used overseas, including the U.K., where “British elders are routinely denied treatment for cancer, heart disease and other deadly illnesses.”
Further, “death” boards already are operating in Oregon, where officials with the state Health Plan agreed to refuse a patient life-extending cancer drugs but volunteered to pay for her to commit suicide.
He reported Barbara Wagner of Springfield, Ore., was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005. Chemotherapy and radiation put her cancer into remission. But the cancer returned in May 2008.
Wagner’s doctor prescribed Tarceva, a pill which slows cancer growth. There was a good chance it might extend her life by a few weeks or even months.
At age 64, Wagner had two sons, three daughters, 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Every moment she could spend with her loved ones was precious, he noted.
But Oregon’s health officials nixed the plan. Her Tarceva treatment would cost $4,000 per month. Wagner was going to die anyway, so why waste the money?
Wagner received a letter stating that the Oregon Health Plan would not approve any treatment for her “that is meant to prolong life, or change the course of the disease. …” However, if Wagner opted for physician-assisted suicide, Oregon would be happy to pick up the tab, said the letter.
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon and costs only about $50.
But remember the most important thing, according to Obama and the Dems: All Americans are covered covered covered covered covered covered. (Yeah, you’ll be covered under 6 feet of dirt is how you’ll be covered!)
Welcome to the future, you stupid Obama-worshiping idiots!
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