September 14, 2007
My experience with the American healthcare system
This piece was originally posted on June 27, 2007. I thought it appropriate given tonight's 20/20 broadcast about health care in America.
Michael Moore is taking on the American healthcare system. He says that the profit motive must be removed from healthcare. Well I thought I’d share my experiences with the system.
In 1993 I was 24 years old. I was married and was running my own business. Then I began to experience extreme fatigue. The slightest physical activity would exhaust me. Though I’ve been a big guy (fat) for most of my adult life, I had also been a rugby player and pretty physically active. This exhaustion was new to me. Around that time I began to have tremors in my hands and later they spread to my legs. I began to experience depression and anxiety. Eventually my wife left me, and my business failed. Several months passed and my physical condition deteriorated. I had insurance through the National Association for the Self Employed. It was costly, but I knew that that coverage was probably the most important thing I could buy.
I visited doctors and nobody could figure out what was ailing me, despite the tests they performed. Finally I was able to see a neurologist at the Parkinson Foundation in Miami. He diagnosed me with something called Wilson’s Disease. It’s a genetic disorder that prevents normal metabolism of copper in the diet. The good news was that we had discovered what was making me sick. The bad news was that, left untreated, my disease is fatal and the only medication approved for my condition at the time was one that could have disastrous side effects that included worsening of the symptoms.
But my doctor told me that he had heard of a study going on at the University of Michigan for a new drug to treat Wilson’s. Within weeks I was admitted to the University Hospital in Ann Arbor. I spent a total of 6 weeks in the hospital while I took the experimental drug (to de-copper my body) and another drug (a formulation of Zinc to block absorption of additional copper). My cost: Nothing, just the flight to get out to Michigan and back.
I was fortunate, the drugs worked for me. The experimental drug is still being tested and the Zinc formulation was approved by the FDA as a treatment for Wilson’s. One month’s supply of the specially formulated Zinc costs $116. The most I have ever paid, thanks to my health insurance (which I have never allowed to lapse) is $40.
Today I’m 100% healthy. I am happily remarried, to a Type 1 Diabetic whose story I could share with you too. Our flawed system has provided her with a state of the art insulin pump, the new formulation of insulin that goes in it, countless blood glucose meters over the years, and discounted test strips. Our flawed system also provided us with the ability to conceive children after 5 fruitless years of trying.
Is our system perfect? No, of course not. Are there serious problems? You betcha. But to throw the baby out with the bath water does not seem like a reasonable solution. Would the pharma company that funded the research study I participated in have funded it if there were no prospect of turning a profit in the end? Would any of us do the work we do if we weren’t going to be paid for it? Please!
I'm sure we all have stories about how we had to wait at the emergency room or how some doctor or other misdiagnosed us. But is socialized medicine going to solve those issues? Doubtful. More like exacerbate them. If we remove the profit motive from healthcare you might as well remove innovation. You really have to be a SiCKO to not see that.
UPDATE: Our flawed health care system allowed my wife and I to have beautiful babies on August 28th. They spent a couple of days in ICU where they received the best care I could I imagine.
Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at September 14, 2007 10:48 PM
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Comments
Our flawed system has worked for everyone in my family as well and many people I know. Including one co-worker whose child had a one year stay in a hospital.
Like I said somewhere else, the system may not be perfect, and yes there are companies abusing the system. But that doesn't mean they are ALL abusing the system.
Posted by: La Ventanita ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 27, 2007 07:20 AM
Thanks for sharing your story Henry. It is good for people to hear a story from a "regular" citizen whose life has been spared by this "evil" system. Fuck Michael Moore.
Posted by: George L. Moneo at June 27, 2007 08:38 AM
Fred Thompson has some timely comments about "universal health care" in Townhall.com:
http://townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/26/duplicating_disaster
I work with a guy who recently moved here from Canada. He and I have had similar knee surgeries. He had to wait a year in Canada. For me, from the first visit to my primary care doctor to orthopedic surgeon to post-op physical therapy was six weeks.
Ditto what George said.
Posted by: Scott at June 27, 2007 10:50 AM
If we remove the profit motive from healthcare you might as well remove innovation.
If we remove the profit motive, you won't have to remove innovation. It will already be gone.
Posted by: Zhangliqun at September 19, 2007 01:26 PM
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