Great writing today, Bill. I despair of having a meaningful response other than despair itself. Talking to a friend today, a health care professional, who got the charges for her ER visit for abdominal pain that turned out, probably, to be an episode of diverticulitis. $70,000.00+ for the 6 hour visit. That’s over seventy thousand dollars. It included a CT scan and an MRI. Oral antibiotics. Home to rest and recuperate. This is outrageous, but also normal. And accepted. Where will this end?
It is great to hear from you as always David. We currently spend $4.5 trillion a year on healthcare. That is almost 20% of gross domestic product. Spending increased by 7.5% last year. That is a national security issue related to the outrageous pricing you documented. Other developed countries spend 10% of GDP and Singapore spends 5%. Uniquely amoung developed countries, Wall Street decides the priorities for our healthcare system. Their priority seems to be to extract as much money as they can from patients and payers. Like the housing bubble of 2008, it may take a bubble collapse to begin the reform process.
I wish I had been offered a stent way before I experienced 90% blockage and congestive heart failure with 20+ pounds of fluid on my chest and lower torso. I am on a best practices protocol now, and I am so grateful. It didn’t cost $80 000 dollars, either, because I found a cardiologist who recognized what might be going on and did not have to use emergency room services.
Best practice metabolic management of high-risk patients reduces hospitalizations for heart failure by 70%. In usual care, hospitalizations for heart failure are increasing. I hope you still use the best practices protocol. The last link shows that stents did not reduce death or hospitalizations in patients with heart failure and severe heart artery disease.
As an Australian professional aged 58, with CAD and CSVD, I’m really pleased to see your OMT perspective Bill.
An associate and I were diagnosed around the same time. he’s younger, his CAC score around the 500 mark, mine 1649. I’ve taken the OMD approach and am the fittest I’ve been for over 25 years and my medical condition stabalised. He on the other hand, immediately went for a stent and no real lifestyle change and appears to be aging with his condition continuing to slowly decline.
Great writing today, Bill. I despair of having a meaningful response other than despair itself. Talking to a friend today, a health care professional, who got the charges for her ER visit for abdominal pain that turned out, probably, to be an episode of diverticulitis. $70,000.00+ for the 6 hour visit. That’s over seventy thousand dollars. It included a CT scan and an MRI. Oral antibiotics. Home to rest and recuperate. This is outrageous, but also normal. And accepted. Where will this end?
It is great to hear from you as always David. We currently spend $4.5 trillion a year on healthcare. That is almost 20% of gross domestic product. Spending increased by 7.5% last year. That is a national security issue related to the outrageous pricing you documented. Other developed countries spend 10% of GDP and Singapore spends 5%. Uniquely amoung developed countries, Wall Street decides the priorities for our healthcare system. Their priority seems to be to extract as much money as they can from patients and payers. Like the housing bubble of 2008, it may take a bubble collapse to begin the reform process.
I wish I had been offered a stent way before I experienced 90% blockage and congestive heart failure with 20+ pounds of fluid on my chest and lower torso. I am on a best practices protocol now, and I am so grateful. It didn’t cost $80 000 dollars, either, because I found a cardiologist who recognized what might be going on and did not have to use emergency room services.
Best practice metabolic management of high-risk patients reduces hospitalizations for heart failure by 70%. In usual care, hospitalizations for heart failure are increasing. I hope you still use the best practices protocol. The last link shows that stents did not reduce death or hospitalizations in patients with heart failure and severe heart artery disease.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6061176/
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0706245
https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2023/09/05/14/12/to-stent-or-not-to-stent-in-ischemic-hf
My doctors insist I use the best practices. I am 82. I just want a few more years.
As an Australian professional aged 58, with CAD and CSVD, I’m really pleased to see your OMT perspective Bill.
An associate and I were diagnosed around the same time. he’s younger, his CAC score around the 500 mark, mine 1649. I’ve taken the OMD approach and am the fittest I’ve been for over 25 years and my medical condition stabalised. He on the other hand, immediately went for a stent and no real lifestyle change and appears to be aging with his condition continuing to slowly decline.