Simone Giertz – Back from brain surgery [video]

Post by eeZah7Ux » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 11:49 PM UTC

WhompingWindows wrote: post #57

bootloop wrote: post #54

So this country doesn't make enough money to be able to keep some unlucky people alive without throwing them or their family into poverty? Or is it simply that nobody cares for anybody else as long as you are better off then them?

I believe it is highly American to believe in self-sufficiency and to minimize the role of luck in success or failure. Whether we go back to the Protestant work ethic, the Puritan sensibility, gold rushes, unfettered capitalism, the Gilded Age, and our current second gilded age, to me it is clear that caring for others is a secondary concern for many Americans. Just look at the "makers/takers" model of our populace p…

Post by plassma » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 11:59 PM UTC

NegativeK wrote: post #67

WhompingWindows wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it is highly American to believe in self-sufficiency and to minimize the role of luck in success or failure. Whether we go back to the Protestant work ethic, the Puritan sensibility, gold rushes, unfettered capitalism, the Gilded Age, and our current second gilded age, to me it is clear that caring for others is a secondary concern for many Americans. Just look at the "makers/takers" model of our populace p…

This is never how it's framed when you actually discuss these problems with people who believe in small government. Every time I've pressed the issue, it's a two pronged response: A) Healthcare costs are too high, and it's due to malpractice/overregulation/other government influences. B) In the event that an individual can't afford healthcare, the community will pick up the tab -- and have the money to do it, since t…

Post by tonysdg » Fri, Jul 20, 2018, 12:48 AM UTC

danbee wrote: post #59

cptskippy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because of the way insurance tends to work in America, care providers tend to throw shit at the wall to see what sticks. In other words the first bill is always an outrageous amount of charges that may or may not be valid. Additionally there's something called a negotiated rate that an insurer has with the care provider, usually the care provider's bill does not show this rate but rater some fiction that not even tho…

Adam Ruins Everything did an episode on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeDOQpfaUc8

Post by goodells » Fri, Jul 20, 2018, 1:24 AM UTC

sxg wrote: post #124

mikec3010 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why ambulances don't have mobile x-ray systems? I realize the radiation would have to be managed, but it seems like a great application of technology to perform the imaging and send it digitally while eh route.

There aren't many cases where having an X-ray done a little faster would be massively helpful. Emergency department physicians and trauma surgeons can read an X-ray for acute trauma in a matter of seconds, and doing the X-ray itself doesn't take more than a few seconds either. It's hard to think of a pathology that would show up on X-ray but not through the patient's presentation or physical exam. Going off memory, I…

Post by amorphid » Fri, Jul 20, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

PuffinBlue wrote: post #27

We live in a world of marvels. Often we talk of the future and it's wonders waiting to be discovered, but the here and now has become equally astonishing. The breadth, depth and scale of human ingenuity and endeavour is jaw-dropping and here Simone and her story is another example. Maybe I'm being trite by looking for the good in the bad but pause for a moment and think of all that has been learned, how we have built…