Rationing health care a bad idea

7/4/2009

It is certainly not surprising to see The Blade pushing for President Obama's program to bring every aspect of American life under the government's control. You even have Dr. Amjad Hussain encouraging us to turn our health-care system over to the "nanny state." I do, however, have a few questions for him.

Since he feels that our system is poor compared to the rest of the world, why did he come here to train and stay to practice medicine? Even if he wanted to train in an inferior system like ours, why not go back home to a better system to establish his practice? If our system is too expensive, did he drastically reduce fees for patients? I recently had a blood test where the lab wanted $147 from me, but they accepted $34.89 as full payment from my insurance company. Why would they charge me so much more?

I used to administer benefit plans for our employees. Why did employees from Canada and the United Kingdom frequently ask for American-style insurance benefits? Why did they often bring themselves and their loved ones from these great systems to be treated in the United States? My bypass surgery was done by the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Why do people come from all over the world for his services? Should I have gone to Canada, the U.K., or Pakistan for my surgery?

If we make the changes that Dr. Hussain requests, we will end up with rationing of medical services and the government deciding whether or not your elderly relatives can get that treatment they need to survive.

Think very carefully before swallowing the changes prescribed by Dr. Hussain.

John F. Weber

Swanton

It is very sad when a respected newspaper such as The Blade is unable to verify all the facts prior to publishing a scathing editorial.

Donte Stallworth's accident was in Florida, which has a causality issue within its drunk-driving law. The prosecutor would have been required to show that the sole cause of the accident was that Mr. Stallworth was intoxicated. Since the victim was jaywalking across a very busy street, this would have made conviction of DUI manslaughter difficult. A DUI conviction without the manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 6 months in jail and a year probation.

The Blade further failed to mention that Mr. Stallworth is under two years of house arrest and 10 years of probation. Also, he will likely be suspended by the NFL for at least a year, so he will be basically unemployed. Add to that the (speculated) large cash settlement and it seems to be far more than just a "slap on the wrist."

Finally, Mr. Stallworth's mistake was one he took instant responsibility for and was a one-time incident. Michael Vick's was an ongoing conspiracy during which he lied and tried to avoid responsibility.

Please get the facts next time and only compare apples to apples. You owe your readers responsible journalism, not inflammatory hyperbole.

Kevin Druckenmiller

Fremont