Comments on: Obama opens mouth, inserts foot: on diabetic amputations and preventative medicine http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/ Thu, 24 May 2012 19:52:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: booker http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121779 booker Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:07:02 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121779 I stumbled across this blog while looking for some discussion about Obama's $50,000 leg amputation comment and the follow-on from the ACS. And, discovered Neo-Neocon. I appreciated a thoughtful view of Obama's loose rhetoric both from Neo and from the replies. But, there is also a lot of anti-Obama emotion in these replies. I, personally, have found Obama to be very thoughtful and careful in explaining / espousing his ideas. I haven't heard him reply to this criticism and until he does, I am finding the criticism believable. So, I hope he will - either to argue his point or acknowledge he was wrong. But, I see a bigger issue here. With all due respect, Obama's comments light up a firestorm about a peripheral issue. As wrong as he might be about the leg amputation costs, that is a "B" or "C" issue. The "A" issue is what we as a society will or can do about overall health care costs. I want to hear what people think about costs. We usually slide past A issues because they are hard. I stumbled across this blog while looking for some discussion about Obama’s $50,000 leg amputation comment and the follow-on from the ACS. And, discovered Neo-Neocon.

I appreciated a thoughtful view of Obama’s loose rhetoric both from Neo and from the replies. But, there is also a lot of anti-Obama emotion in these replies. I, personally, have found Obama to be very thoughtful and careful in explaining / espousing his ideas. I haven’t heard him reply to this criticism and until he does, I am finding the criticism believable. So, I hope he will – either to argue his point or acknowledge he was wrong.

But, I see a bigger issue here. With all due respect, Obama’s comments light up a firestorm about a peripheral issue. As wrong as he might be about the leg amputation costs, that is a “B” or “C” issue. The “A” issue is what we as a society will or can do about overall health care costs.

I want to hear what people think about costs. We usually slide past A issues because they are hard.

]]> By: Baklava http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121557 Baklava Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:29:45 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121557 blah blah

]]> By: blah http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121495 blah Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:12:14 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121495 Obama said a surgeon gets $50,000 for an amputation. People actually believe doctors get that kind of money for surgical procedures. A lawyer would charge $50,000 for the paperwork a surgeon must do prior to doing a leg amputation. A surgeon doing an amputation on a Medicare patient which is the vast majority of patients who require amputations are paid $700 for the amputation this includes all paper work and 90 days of postoperative care. It can come down to less than $10 per hour. A lawyer has a much lower SAT score in reading comprehension than a Doctor and only 3 years of postgraduate education. many lawyers I know were bottom of the class paople there bright ones also. What is wrong with Obama and the publics misconception of Doctors who work practically for free and are the best and brightest we have. Obama said a surgeon gets $50,000 for an amputation.
People actually believe doctors get that kind of money for surgical procedures.
A lawyer would charge $50,000 for the paperwork a surgeon must do prior to doing a leg amputation.
A surgeon doing an amputation on a Medicare patient which is the vast majority of patients who require amputations are paid $700 for the amputation this includes all paper work and 90 days of postoperative care. It can come down to less than $10 per hour.

A lawyer has a much lower SAT score in reading comprehension than a Doctor and only 3 years of postgraduate education. many lawyers I know were bottom of the class paople there bright ones also.

What is wrong with Obama and the publics misconception of Doctors who work practically for free and are the best and brightest we have.

]]> By: Baklava http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121416 Baklava Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:40:42 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121416 http://www.redstate.com/california_yankee/2009/08/16/does-a-death-panel-equivalent-already-exist/ http://www.redstate.com/california_yankee/2009/08/16/does-a-death-panel-equivalent-already-exist/

]]> By: Baklava http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121414 Baklava Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:13:21 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121414 Don't fall for the head fake <strong>Neo.</strong> Sunday morning talk shows had it all wrong. Democrats will not give up the "public option". Don’t fall for the head fake Neo.

Sunday morning talk shows had it all wrong.

Democrats will not give up the “public option”.

]]> By: E http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121407 E Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:07:07 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121407 fmt: what huxley said! fmt: what huxley said!

]]> By: huxley http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121405 huxley Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:09:06 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121405 fmt: Thanks for the nitty-gritty. fmt: Thanks for the nitty-gritty.

]]> By: fmt http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121397 fmt Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:33:10 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121397 E and Grackle, My experience as a critical care RN leads me to believe that Living Wills are worthless. If the patient stated that he did not want to be resuscitated, OR there was a valid DNR in the chart, then the patient would not be resuscitated if his heart stopped or he stopped breathing. I cannot recall a living will ever being referred to. Barring stated wishes or a DNR, the patient would be resuscitated, or, rather, the attempt would be made, unless a valid health care proxy stated otherwise. In any event, the decision to NOT resuscitate would be made by the patient or kin. If it was not clear, or explicit, resuscitation attempts would be made. Sadly, resuscitation rarely leads to a happy outcome. All those defibrilators are there for the rare occasion when they restart the heart, and the patient is able to resume something of a normal life. It doesn't happen often. E, I liked your comments early in the thread. It IS personal. It isn't the government, after all, who has developed things like insulin pumps, or Lantus. I'd hate to see that kind of innovation stymied by bureacracy. - E and Grackle,

My experience as a critical care RN leads me to believe that Living Wills are worthless. If the patient stated that he did not want to be resuscitated, OR there was a valid DNR in the chart, then the patient would not be resuscitated if his heart stopped or he stopped breathing. I cannot recall a living will ever being referred to.

Barring stated wishes or a DNR, the patient would be resuscitated, or, rather, the attempt would be made, unless a valid health care proxy stated otherwise. In any event, the decision to NOT resuscitate would be made by the patient or kin. If it was not clear, or explicit, resuscitation attempts would be made.

Sadly, resuscitation rarely leads to a happy outcome. All those defibrilators are there for the rare occasion when they restart the heart, and the patient is able to resume something of a normal life. It doesn’t happen often.

E, I liked your comments early in the thread. It IS personal. It isn’t the government, after all, who has developed things like insulin pumps, or Lantus. I’d hate to see that kind of innovation stymied by bureacracy. -

]]> By: Chicago Boyz » Blog Archive » Healthcare: Mackey, Obama, and Reid http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121357 Chicago Boyz » Blog Archive » Healthcare: Mackey, Obama, and Reid Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:50:05 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121357 [...] Obama then went on to make similar comments about the treatment of diabetes. [...] [...] Obama then went on to make similar comments about the treatment of diabetes. [...]

]]> By: Random Thoughts » My dead grandma, and the everpresent O http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121320 Random Thoughts » My dead grandma, and the everpresent O Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:28:41 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2009/08/14/obama-opens-mouth-inserts-foot-on-diabetic-amputations-and-preventative-medicine/#comment-121320 [...] wanting. Neo-neocon presents a starkly revealing illustration of the lack of wisdom inherent in Obama presuming to lecture on health care reform: …in thinking about Obama and the amputation remarks, there’s a great deal more that’s [...] [...] wanting. Neo-neocon presents a starkly revealing illustration of the lack of wisdom inherent in Obama presuming to lecture on health care reform: …in thinking about Obama and the amputation remarks, there’s a great deal more that’s [...]

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