Two California Doctors Lose Case Denying Service
Two doctors in California lost a case against them for refusing to artificially inseminate a lesbian based on their religious prejudices , I mean beliefs. After some of my previous posts I think you already know where I stand on this, and I am not alone.
I would like to point out something else that these religious do gooders have not considered, and that is the fact that they are supposed to be pro life at all costs. The writers of the bible probably didn’t foresee the possibility of artificial insemination. As Christians they should be for bringing more babies into the world. The church wants numbers, more members, more money.
If a woman is raped and becomes pregnant too bad, have the baby. If there’s something wrong with the baby, too bad, have the baby. If the mothers life is endangered, too bad, have the baby. If it’s a preteen or teen mom, too bad, have the baby. If it’s from an incestuous rape, too bad, have the baby. Lesbian, no way, children born of lesbian moms are not acceptable future Christians. Huh?
This might seem like a stretch of logic to you, but consider this. If it was a single straight woman who wanted a baby, I would bet that they would have had no problem inseminating her. The point I’m trying to make is if they knew about artificial insemination in biblical times, they would probably have outlawed sex altogether and have chased down woman in the streets to do the procedure on them. Click the link I provided above for the full article on this case. I think you’ll find it interesting.
Seniors Stop Medicine When Donut Hole Hits
Under Medicare, people had to pay for their own medication after Medicare paid $2400. Then seniors had to pay the next $3850 from their own money and once they have paid out that amount the Medicare coverage kicked in again. The out of pocket is what’s referred to as the donut hole.
What ended up happening 15% of these people stopped their medication, 5% switched medications, and 1% cut down on their medicine.
This donut hole was made so the government could save some money, but when people stop taking their medicine they tend to get sicker and require even more hospital care. In the long run it seems the donut hole may end up costing more than it’s saving.
Maybe they need to rethink the structure of this medication coverage so people will actually be able to maintain health and stay out of doctors offices and hospitals. Just a thought.
New Legislation by Bush Administration, Right of Conscience
The Bush Administration is proposing to pass legislation that would protect all health care workers from punishment by their employers, because they refused to participate in any procedure they find objectionable personally, morally, or religiously.
This legislation is mainly aimed at abortion, however it may have far reaching arms into areas like stem cell research, sterilization, and other care.
There have been legislation’s on this matter since the 1970’s, however it has not been enforced. The enforcement will consist of withholding funding to hospitals and clinics that employ workers who refuse to do their jobs and face consequences for it.
This would even include workers who sterilize operating instruments for a procedure they find objectionable.
With the last legislation leaving little doubt that they believe anything that interferes with a fertilized egg is abortion, they have pretty much set back woman’s health care to the back alley ages. Congratulations.
Do Abortions Lead To Mental Problems and Depression?
A recent study has not been able to find a link to prove that there is a connection between having an abortion and post traumatic stress syndrome or depression. This goes against previous studies which says that you are doomed to mental problems if you have an abortion.
Researchers say that the previous studies did not take into account that many women who were part of the study also had other problems in their lives such as poverty, and drug abuse for example.
The truth of the matter as I see it, is that few women who have abortions take them lightly, but they make a decision and are prepared to live with whatever consequences follow. I don’t believe that if they could do it over again most would do it differently.
Some of the reasons a woman might suffer from depression afterward would include, having an abortion when they really didn’t want one, and having to keep it a secret from family and friends because of the stigma that’s involved.
Airbourne Suit
Lydia Parnes, the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection filed a complaint against the maker’s of Airbourne, claiming that there is no “credible evidence” that Airbourne protects and helps to reduce colds, or protects people from germ exposure.
The FTC wants Airbourne to pay people back for as many as their last six purchases of the product, which could cost Airbourne a grand total of $30 million.
Airbourne has agreed to a settlement of putting another $6.5 million into funds they already have to pay for a class action suit of the same kind. That suit said that Airbourne made false claims and they settled that one for $23.5 million.
Those of you who bought their products between 2001 and 2008 have till September 15 to apply for a refund which will be paid by October 15.
Airbourne claims that they have changed their packaging and wording and that they are just being victimized by suit hungry lawyers.
Airbourne does have a devoted following who claim that it really does work and that they know it might just be because they believe in it, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. They don’t care how it works, they just know that it does.
I know a couple people who swear by it and claim that when a cold shows it’s first symptom, they take Airbourne and the cold vanishes immediately. That’s good for them, it’s just too bad the placebo is so expensive. I bet the second grade teacher who founded Airbourne isn’t teaching second grade anymore.
Cancer Treatment Centers Commercial
The Cancer Treatment Centers of America sound like a wonderful place to go when you have cancer. I’m sure that everything they claim in their commercials is true and bless them for being there when people who have cancer have lost hope and confidence in their prognosis. The commercials have me convinced that if I ever get cancer that is the place I want to go for treatment. So why this post?
This post has to do with one commercial in particular that just strikes me the wrong way. It’s just a small thing but every time they run it, it makes me feel like there’s an itch I just can’t stratch. The commercial stars a woman called Peggy who describes how she found out she had cancer from her doctor. He told her nothing could be done and that she had two months to live. In the commercial, Peggy starts to choke up and cry. A perfectly natural and understandable reaction to being told you would be dead in two months time.
Then while Peggy is at home dying, her sister calls the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and they test, and treat her and offer her hope for a long life. Peggy decribes how the doctors here tell her that she has no expiration date stamped on the bottom of her foot, and how the tumors are gone and she’s in remission. After this miraculous new lease of life, Peggy says “I thought, oh”. Oh? They just told her the cancer that was killing her is gone and all she can say is oh?
Like I said it’s just a little thing but if I were Peggy I’d be yelling ” WOO HOO! YEAH, I’M GOING TO LIVE, WOOO!!!
” I thought oh” Oh, well.
Why We Shouldn’t Detect Cancer Early
I am reading this article from the New York Times and I am blown away by what I’m seeing. I always was told and believed that detecting cancer early was a good thing so that treatment could be given before the cancer becomes so advanced as to metastasize and kill its victim.
Unless I am not understanding correctly, this article seems to be saying that some doctors and a government committee feel that some cancers can live and grow in the body, but if you are older you will probably die of something else before the cancer really becomes a health concern for you.
It further seems to say that by detecting it early you would undergo treatments that would prove to be unnecessary because you’re going to die soon anyway. WHAT?
I don’t know about anyone else but I do not want cancerous tumors anywhere in my body whether they are causing me pain or not. These doctors seem to be saying that they are affecting the quality of life by treating and testing the cancer, rather than the cancer affecting the quality of life.
Of course I have to ask once again where do the insurance companies and money fit in to all this. After all look at how much can be saved if we just all forget about testing high risk groups of people for cancer, and even more money can be saved by ignoring it and not offering treatment.
Honestly, sometimes I feel like I woke up on the wrong planet. See the whole article here and throw me a comment, I’d love to know what you think about all this.
Prostate Cancer Test Concerns
I was reading an article about a blood test for prostate cancer called PSA, which is an antigen put out by the prostate. If the test reveals high levels of a 4 or above it’s an indication of increased risk of prostate cancer. The article went on to explain that in obese men they think the extra blood volume dilutes the PSA so it shows up at lower levels and cancers could be missed.
What caught my eye was this paragraph,
“The current recommendation is for men aged 50 and older to be offered an annual PSA test, with explanations of its possible risks and benefits. A federal preventive medicine committee this week said that PSA screening should not be done for men aged 75 and older because the risks outweigh the benefits.” This quote is from the Washington Post.
This information seemed a little out of place with the rest of the content, and seemed strange to me, so I looked up what the PSA test entailed. As far as my research told me it’s just a simple blood test, with the blood being taken out of the arm and is then sent to the lab for analysis. So what possible risks are they talking about in comparison to the benefits of finding and treating prostate cancer?
This sounds a lot like the advice we got a couple weeks ago about not doing breast self exams anymore because we might find a lump and have to have a biopsy. If the biopsy results come back benign then the biopsy was a waste of money for whatever insurance carrier the patient has. The risk I believe they are referring to is the risk that further testing may be needed and insurance companies don’t want to pay for them. I further will suggest that the insurance companies don’t even care if the results of the PSA or further tests show it is cancer, I believe they figure that men over 75 may face a poor prognosis if cancer is found whether it’s treated or not. In plain English, if a man is over 75, he’s lived his life and should get ready to die and not waste our money or time and resources.
That’s just my take, what do you think?
Fraud Scheme Using The Homeless
Federal authorities raided three medical centers in
Los Angelos and arrested a hospital CEO for fraud.
Authorities claim that men would walk up the down the neighborhoods where the homeless were known to be and shouting out “are you hooked up with the red, white, and blue?”. That is in reference to the Medi-Cal card that entitles you to government paid health care.
They told homeless people that they could make easy cash by coming to the hospital with them. Once there the homeless were looked at by doctors and stayed in the hospital for up to three days for conditions that did not require hospital stays. The medical centers would then bill the government for the hospitalizations and be reimbursed millions for unnecessary care.
Comments by the authorities were that it was a disgrace to use and abuse homeless people that way.
Are they nuts? First it was a crime of fraud what the medical centers did and they should certainly be punished.
Having said that, I ask again are they nuts? Let’s look at this from the homeless persons point of view.
You live on the streets, your meals come from soup kitchens or missions. You have no access to health care or even an address that would entitle you to receive government assistance. Someone comes up to you one day and takes you to a hospital where a doctor looks at you, treats your ailments, provides you with shower and bathroom facilities, a TV to watch, music to listen to, three hot square and nutritious meals plus a snack, and on top of all that they give you cash when you leave.
Now if that’s abuse, sign me up!
Where Does It End?
In the early 90’s a movie called Demolition Man was released. It starred Sylvester Stallone as John Sparton, a cop who was taken out of suspended animation to find it was about one hundred years later. The society had totally changed, it was peaceful and overly healthy and safe. Eating meat, using salt, swearing, and even having sex was banned. There was one scene where they took Sparton out to eat at the only restaurant in town and that was Taco Bell. It was considered a fancy restaurant but Sparton was shocked when he tried to order meat and use salt because they were illegal.
I bring this up because these recent bills, laws, and moratoriums that have cropped up recently remind me of the future portrayed in that movie. It makes me wonder where the line will be drawn that gives us the freedom to make bad choices.
Los Angeles wants a moratorium on fast food restaurants saying that, in that area the health of the lower income residents is being affected by not having better choices for eating. There are more fast food restaurants in the area than restaurants that can offer healthier sit down meals or fresh produce stores. While a big mac or whopper with fries can be a poor choice, these fast food restaurants also sell salads, plain hamburgers (without cheese and special sauces), and grilled chicken sandwiches, plus who forces people to get a side of french fries? Also you can’t tell me there are no grocery stores in the area that sell fruits and vegetables. The problem with buying produce is that it’s expensive. The point is that people have choices for better diets the way things are without the government coming in to manipulate the choices we have.
This kind of thing creeps up on a society slowly and the majority of people go along with it because it’s for our own good, not realizing that it will keep going till the day comes we have virtually no freedom of choice left. By that time it’s too late.