Coronavirus Thread

[RickHaleParker]

Even saying American physicians get paid too much is okay. But if you want to cut physician pay in the United States, also reform the cost of medical education and medical malpractice to match systems of those abroad. Don’t pick and choose numbers to fit an agenda."

Physicians come out of collage with like $350,000. in debt. They my be raking in more cash then my grandfather did. With as much debt as physician carry today, I not sure if they are any better off then my grandfather was.

Grandfather was a physician back in the Great depression. My grandfather said he would never wish his profession an anybody. He was the last to get paid and when he did get paid it was often in chickens ... literally.

Physicians are not the problem, only a small percentage got into the medical profession because they thought it would make them rich. It is the system and the incorporated persons in the system that needs to be dealt with not the people.

[abscate]

One profound difference between our private and public health care systems ; they practice medicine , we practice medical technology

Sally gets her head bumped on a soccer field , in France the GP says watch her for a few days. We run an MRI costing 25000 on a 6M machine. Then outcomes are the same

[Phainein7]

they practice medicine , we practice medical technology

Term for the Day: “defensive” medicine

Cerebral edema can be a serious issue.

RickHaleParker - Grandfather was a physician....He was the last to get paid and when he did get paid it was often in chickens ... literally.

Before medicare/medicaid programs, a new physician in a town would find out his/her new patients tended to be those without funds. Pre 1960s, many people did not have health insurance.

Footnotes

1. "In 1986 Congress enacted the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) in response to a surge of “patient dumping” by hospitals that refused to treat individuals who were unable to pay for medical care. Under EMTALA, all hospitals that participate in Medicare and their physicians are duty bound to stabilize and provide medical screening examinations for each patient who comes to the facility for emergency care, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay."

2. The Hospital Survey and Construction Act (or the Hill–Burton Act) is a U.S. federal law passed in 1946....Facilities that received funding were also required to provide a ‘reasonable volume’ of free care each year for those residents in the facility's area who needed care but could not afford to pay.

[abscate]

It’s deeper than defensive medicine. Lawsuits have been shown against and again to be responsible for a small fraction of the difference in costs.

Once you have a 6M usd MRI machine in your hospital , you have to Bill all of its hours of existence

When my kids broke toes playing soccer, the MD would say, let’s get an X-ray

I asked, what do we do with that information?

Answer: nothing. Same course of treatment , tape them together.

Me: no thanks

[Phainein7]

Lawsuits

For one insurance company, many years ago, economics was the driver for out of court settlements. But today, if they perceive a doctor has a strong case, it will go to court. This has reduced frivolous suits.

Working in a hospital environment, the governing board (or trustees/upper managers) can define "kosher" protocols, which prohibit non established treatment modalities.

For instance,, if I came down with Covid-19, and requested IV-C only, if this was not approved via board/etc, I'm SOL..cause they might consider this as medical malpractice.

Three U.S. Hospitals Use IVs of Vitamin C & Other Low-Cost, Readily Available Drugs To Cut The Death-Rate Of COVID-19 — Without Ventilators!

I would also request they evaluate for a cytokine storm.

[bronco]

Anyone else heard the rumor that a big chunk of the people in New York hospitalized for this have the pre-existing condition of obesity?

Another rumor , a lot of young people hospitalized may have been vape users.

I personally haven't seen any breakdowns of underlying conditions at all kind of curious about that

[RickHaleParker]

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly sues GOP.

Kansas Supreme Court Sides With Governor In Church Gatherings Dispute. Overturning the Kansas GOP overturn. It looks like only two churches in Kansas defied Governor Kelly's Executive order. But that does not excuse the mind bogging stupidity.

[Phainein7]

rumor that a big chunk of the people in New York hospitalized for this have the pre-existing condition of obesity?

April 10, 2020 - "The Bronx not only has a greater prevalence of pre-existing conditions, it also has greater representation in the essential workforce," he said. "It is often people from the Bronx who are risking their lives on the frontline, so that the rest of us can have the luxury of working from home," he added.

04/03/20 - "Early reports in New York City show the largest
concentrations of cases are happening in areas close to the end of
subway lines, potentially suggesting that spending long rides on
public transportation could contribute to wider spread."

[abscate]

Anyone else heard the rumor that a big chunk of the people in New York hospitalized for this have the pre-existing condition of obesity?

Another rumor , a lot of young people hospitalized may have been vape users.

I personally haven't seen any breakdowns of underlying conditions at all kind of curious about that

There isn’t good data on this yet. They are too busy saving lives right now.

It’s a good public service to call out people spreading rumors that are baseless, though. Stop that shinola cold, please.

When Florida peaks we will get some data on ages.

The media reporting on this is horrible. We pull up a healthy 22 year old who dies and start the “ anyone can get this” song.

Of course, anyone can get this. The scope of this is MILLIONS , if not 100 Millions , of people will catch this over,the next year. In such a huge set, There will be bizarre progressions of the disease.

A vaccine is years away. I expect at least four waves of pandemic, hopefully each smaller than the preceding ones, before we get either natural or vaccine immunity

[Phainein7]

data on this

New analysis by researchers at New York University's Furman Center, which studies housing, neighborhoods and urban policy, found that strongest neighborhood factors linked to high COVID-19 rates were having a large share of black and Hispanic residents; having a high proportion of overcrowded apartments and having a large share of residents without college degrees. ABC News