Universal health care to die for

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Universal health care to die for
12
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 10:40am

Literally, the Japanese have created a low cost universal health care system to die for. At least that seems to be what some are doing, while waiting for care.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_medical_care_denied

Injured man dies after rejection by 14 hospitals

TOKYO – A 69-year-old Japanese man injured in a traffic accident died after paramedics spent more than an hour negotiating with 14 hospitals before one admitted him, a fire department official said Wednesday.

The man, whose bicycle collided with a motorcycle in the western city of Itami, waited at the scene in an ambulance because the hospitals said they could not accept him, citing a lack of specialists, equipment, beds and staff, according to Mitsuhisa Ikemoto. One of the 14 finally admitted the man when the paramedics called it for a second time.

It was the latest in a string of recent cases in Japan in which patients were denied treatment, underscoring the country's health care woes that include a shortage of doctors.

The man, who suffered head and back injuries, initially showed stable vital signs, but his condition gradually deteriorated. He died from hemorrhagic shock about an hour and half after arriving at the hospital, Ikemoto said. Hemorrhagic shock occurs when cells do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients to function.

Ikemoto said the victim might have survived if a hospital accepted him more quickly. "I wish hospitals are more willing to take patients, but they have their own reasons, too," he said.

The death prompted the city to issue a directive ordering paramedics to better coordinate with an emergency call center so patients can find a hospital within 15 minutes. But hospitals still cannot be punished for turning away patients if they are already full.

The motorcyclist involved in the Jan. 20 accident was hurt too and was also denied medical care by two hospitals before one accepted him, Ikemoto said. He was recovering from his injuries.

More than 14,000 emergency patients were rejected at least three times by Japanese hospitals before getting treatment in 2007, according to the latest government survey. In the worst case, a woman in her 70s with a breathing problem was rejected 49 times in Tokyo.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-24-2006
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 11:53am

We have the same type problems here... patients dying in waiting rooms because of overcrowding, literally being dumped in the streets, etc.


There's no perfect system, and both ways some people are going to die.


Posting these things doesn't help your case against universal health care.


zz

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 12:10pm

Anderson Cooper on "60 minutes": Skid Row patient dumping


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q-yTFZUolg

Photobucket

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 2:07pm
Wasn't the problem with dumping related to Medicaid patients? You know, people who have government insurance.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 2:08pm
Kings County Hospital is government run to the best of my understanding.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 2:18pm

Totally

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-24-2006
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 3:15pm
Wasn't the problem with dumping related to Medicaid patients? You know, people who have government insurance.



iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 4:00pm

The significance of patient dumping due to insufficient government insurance coverage is that it is similar to the problem cited by the initial story in Japan.

All examples of our supposed failed American healthcare system presented in this thread so far have been examples of government coverage failures.

My concern is that the government is better as an arbiter sitting between patients and insurance companies, than it is being the insurance provider. Once government becomes the provider, it has incentive to cover bad news up.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 5:52pm

Our oldest has lived there for about 8 years.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-23-2008
Wed, 02-04-2009 - 6:39pm
What a pity!

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