Why is this news to absolutely anyone?
Some people haven’t had the joy of being in the ED or receiving care at a hospital in the US.
Fuck this joker. He’s the IDIOT that said, as the SURGEON GENERAL, “Seriously people - STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” (Tweet was then deleted). He should lose his medical license and be imprisoned for the excessive number of deaths his lies caused.
They were lying in order to get as many masks as possible to healthcare staff. Perhaps they saved more lives doing so
And perhaps they didn’t.
I’m not putting the full blame of the Anti-Covid nonsense on him - but that decision was certainly a factor…
Sure, and I agree it was a bad idea because it burned so much credibility. And secondly, I can’t imagine it making a real difference. Those who had the means to acquire masks at that time wouldn’t be dumb enough to believe it.
And I also agree that it’s good to remind everybody every once in a while.
But my main point is that they didn’t lie because they are bad people that were preparing the masses for a one world government - they did it because they saw hospital staff falling ill or dying at unsustainable rates and were willing to do almost anything to slow that.
Smart people understand that science is fallible. As more information becomes available, science can be corrected.
Covid denialism came out of mishandling that. People believing that since science wasn’t infallible, it can’t be trusted.
It’s a problem with the state of education in this country. Same reason why people don’t believe in gravity because “it’s just a theory”.
There is a distinct difference between science being fallible, and being told that Life Preserver Jackets won’t save you - while you’re on a sinking ship - and every medical professional around you goes to extreme lengths to acquire as many life preservers as possible.
They at no-point-in-time believed masks were pointless.
I get it. I really do. Doesn’t make it right.
Just in case:
Well, the reason for that is that we were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply. And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected
I don’t agree with it, but I get it.
We had a very limited supply of masks in the country. Remember, we had people volunteering to stitch cloth masks or 3D printed “straps” for face shields…to donate to doctors and nurses who couldn’t get enough masks to stay safe. Breweries and distilleries were re-tooling to make hand sanitizer.
Meanwhile we were already at the start of the supply chain itself collapsing.
We were at a point where Trump was
hijackingintercepting shipments of masks toscalpredistribute them tothe highest bidderhospitals that needed them more.Now, if they had said that day “everyone needs to wear a mask in public”, that would have completely toppled the supply for hospitals, and I’d say it’s significantly more critical for frontline workers to have them than people who were able to hunker down and wait until Easter when the whole thing blows over (womp womp).
You know that any other messaging would’ve caused a rush on face masks and frontline workers, and probably made the whole thing worse.
In retrospect it’s easy to say that they should have been transparent about the messaging. But in retrospect, we also know that most people are selfish assholes.
When exactly did he say this? At the beginning of the pandemic when things were still uncertain?
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you if he said that at the beginning. To be clear, I know masks were an effective protection against the coronavirus. But at that time there was a lot of uncertainty, first, and second, he was half-right: there was a shortage of masks, and medical professionals needed them at a very critical time. I followed that advice. Then when the CDC said “oops, no actually DO wear masks!” I started wearing them.
So… I’m not saying he was right. I’m just saying he should judge people in context. Don’t pile him up with the true idiot anti-mask bundle.
They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching
That’s technically true, but the correct answer is more nuanced then the average adult has the attention span to understand or the character limit of twitter.
Masks are better at stopping the wearer from spreading it to other people, but a lot of people were getting infected through spit going into their eyes. Did this post occur during the mask shortage were even surgeons couldn’t get the masks they needed to do their work? The quote you gave said to stop buying masks, not to stop wearing them. Best practice was to use a reusable mask and face shield.
We’ve already had this discussion ad nauseum since 2020. It’s 2024. Just stop with spreading information that can fuel the anti-mask bullshit.
I understand that wearing eye protection can reduce the risk of catching the virus. But to say “masks are not effective” being technically true is irresponsible.
People only accepting simple answers are why so many people died. I never said masks aren’t effective. You reduced my comment until it lost it’s original meaning.
This is only news to people who read Business Insider
“Rich person doesn’t understand how to save money!”
Haha what a joker. Everyone knows you don’t go to the ER for lightheadedness. You gotta self medicate, use WebMD, and ride that wave until you can get seen by your grandmama, your buddy who’s a volunteer 1st responder, your friend’s wife who’s a nurse, or, if push comes to shove, the N.P. at the CVS Minute Clinic.
You never go full E.R. Gotta clip those coupons.
(Tongue in cheek.)
Sir if your tongue is your cheek, please see the surgeon in the article to remove.
Maybe it was the Nestlé hospital?
Profit based healthcare is immoral.
Nonsense. Greed Is Good.
Capitalists are constantly telling me that if the Mayo Clinic wasn’t charging $5000 for saline drips, the service simply wouldn’t exist and he’d have died. This is what happens all the time in Communist Countries.
Besides, $5000 is a small price to pay for your life. If anything, he should have been charged extra. The hospital could have extorted him for five figures, easily, if they’d just twisted the screws a little tighter.
The real story is the surgeon had a problem with the hospital charging him so little. Only a broken system would miss that he could’ve paid well above $5000.
Praise be thy rules of acquisition.
Oh look at that. The sky is blue. Oh, and water is… wet! It’s wet everyone! Oh, no, not water, it’s piss being thrown at us by our government’s lack of representation, ethical apathy, and greed.
“Working as intended.”
-Republicans
I think you mean
Working as intended
-the rich
It’s the rich running this country. The political system is there to make the masses feel represented.
Sad that the system meant to make us feel represented does the opposite.
I think you mean
Working as intended
-The owning classplenty of working class people could be considered rich and a medical bill would still upend their lives.
Yeah, no shit. I have a full time job, supposedly great health insurance, but I still can’t actually afford to go to the doctor (never mind an ER).
Our (Australian) right wing government stopped increasing the amount they pay doctors when people visit, and the new left wing government isn’t doing anything either.
So now I have to “co-pay” $30 whenever I visit, when it used to be free. I found that so outrageous that next time, I’m travelling half an hour to go to a clinic that still “bulk bills” (read: doesn’t charge the patient).
If I was an American I think I’d just die of rage. I wonder how much that’d cost me.
Edit: Oops, turns out our new left wing government just recently INCREASED the GP payment rate, so hopefully we’ll see more bulk billing places return.
Here’s the fun part.
It’s been like this for at least 20+ years.
I remember when my dad lost his job around 2002. I was a little kid and my mom told me to be careful when I’m playing outside, because if I broke my arm we could lose our house. That’s something I don’t think should ever be a reality, or something that parents or children should worry about in a functioning country.
Yes, but longer. It’s absurd. Not sure exactly when premiums really got out of control, though. There’s probably a good chart out there.
Democrats tried to fix this almost… 15 years ago (“thanks Obama”). Critical failure: no Medicare option for all. Most civilized democracies implemented right to free care 30+ years ago, should’ve been easy to follow. (Then higher education as well.) For-profit health insurance companies and their armies of lobbyists are evil and should be burned to the ground.
Because i think you’re the thinking sort, I suggest you Google ‘how Democrats sabotaged Obamacare’ or similar, select a source or sources you trust and see what you take away from your reading.
In my view it was similar to the recent Manchin / Sinema travesty. Zero Republican votes, plus some very cowardly or corrupt “centrist Democrats” that neuter or kill bill. A classic recipe for disappointment.
You are right. It was eerily similar. There was even a single scapegoat! His name was Ben Nelson, and he was a former insurance executive.
He joined politics for a few years, vsinglehandedly destroyed the public option, and then quit public service.
Makes you think, huh?
The worst part is Obamacare wasn’t even good - it was a huge compromise with insurance companies… Before it was further compromised and sabotaged. It came out of the heritage foundation after all - everything they come up with is some way to cause mass suffering to make a few people a lot of money
On the pro column, they gave up preexisting condition rejections - definitely good - and increased child coverage to 25 - which is nice to have I guess. It also made it easier to get health care not coupled to your job. Which would be great, except insurance gives you so much less protection at this point that people aren’t much better off than they were uninsured before
On the minus side, they came up with standards of care, which creates so much documentation it drove most of private practice out of business, forcing them to join healthcare systems. It’s as much as 2-4x as much time doing paperwork as seeing patients, and then the doctor has to negotiate with the insurance company back and forth on a case by case basis.
And healthcare systems are basically regional monopolies, which is why costs ballooned so ridiculously. It was always bad in this country, but nowhere near this bad.
They also overwork doctors, which is probably a big part of why outcomes are getting worse - they’re running healthcare as a business. People who have zero healthcare training are min-maxing health system policies to make line go up
Not to mention, the one big win was supposed to be a public option on the healthcare marketplaces - the idea is you get something like a government run, at-cost insurance company. That was going to be the base line - private competition with “government inefficiency”
It’s all just such a shit show - the solution is so simple too. Insurance does three things - it collects a little money from a lot of people to cover big costs from the minority who suddenly needs a lot of it. It uses economies of scale/collective bargaining to keep costs down on the provider side. And it has to have enough bureaucracy/oversight to keep embezzlement/fraud/kickbacks at sustainable levels (you don’t even have to stop it, you could just keep good records and watch for large scale offenders, and come down on them hard)
All of those things are better done without a profit incentive, and they work better the more people are in this kind of union… It’s mind boggling that people don’t understand how straightforward it is.
Hell, know what happens when a homeless man comes into the ER and racks up a 6 figure bill because they couldn’t afford treatment until they’re at deaths door? The hospital doesn’t just eat the cost, we all pay for it collectively anyways
all insurance is a scam but any insurance that doesn’t cover you for the only thing it’s selling is also fraud.
Dr. Jerome Adams, who was the nation’s top doctor from 2017 to 2021, said he was slammed with an almost $5,000 bill after being treated for dehydration at a Mayo Clinic emergency department, where he got labs and a few IV bags.
Awesome. I’m going there at the end of March.
Oh, buddy, best of luck!
Thanks!
You’re gonna get SLAMMED!!! They’re gonna bite your toes put your dick in a curling iron! You’ll leave with a cured appetite and they’ll FUCKING DUNK ON YOU with a $600 Billion bill! Don’t forget to take advantage of their financial assistance; the whole medical system may be financially and morally ruined, but there are some ways to navigate semi-relatively unscathed.
I’m guessing we’re going to get through our $10,000 deductible at least.
I genuinely hope it goes well. I excited await hearing about your progress.
Thanks. I sure hope so too because we have no idea where to go next.
There’s a pretty good prison in Terre Haute
I’m fairly certain a federal prison is not going to help me with my medical issues…
When the system can’t milk you for any more wealth, your next destination is a poor person death camp.
He got more done than he said. He likely went in for syncope (since he’s a doctor and that’s one of the few things that might scare them) and they did an ECG and possibly something else (particularly if he requested it). That said, 5k is still ridiculous.
You’re planning on visiting the ER?
The Mayo Clinic specializes in a lot of niche stuff which means people often have to fly from all over the country to visit this specific hospital in Minnesota
I know. I count myself lucky live less than an hour away from it. My grandma has actually gotten flown in on mayo one before for an emergency (speaking of expensive bills).
My original comment was a joke because the top post was talking about the surgeon general going to one of their emergency rooms and op was talking about planning to go there by which they meant mayo clinic but it could also be read as them meaning the ER.
Like mayonnaise?
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Is mayo a solid food?
Idk about you but I tend to avoid the chunky solid parts of the mayonnaise.
Surely you’ve seen the movie Airplane!
No, but it’s the same hospital.
If you’re curious why I’m going there, I wrote about it in Casual Conversation- https://lemmy.world/post/12194311
Long story short: I haven’t been able to eat any solid food for over six months and no one knows why.
(Please no medical advice, I am begging you. The general you, not you specifically.)
Have you tried chewing it?
I know you’re joking, but I am literally unable to.
Nothing is more frustrating than people giving unsolicited medical advice. I’ve IBD and I mentioned on a post about people buying cheap frozen food why some people do it. I explained that I literally can’t do prep, cook and watch the stuff cooking due to the symptoms when having a flare up. Wouldn’t you know I got the typical reply that I should learn to cook (I know how) and eat healthily and seek medical advice (I’ve a specialist nurse I can contact at any time and it’s difficult to eat anything when in constant pain and I feel nauseous after eating) so I feel you dude with not wanting to hear it at all no matter how well meaning some people are.
And they really are well-meaning, I know that, but it’s so tiring to say “yes, we’ve been over that. It’s not that. I don’t fit those symptoms.” or whatever over and over.
I hope you find a solution for your IBD that helps you, I’m sure that’s really awful.
Oh but armchair doctoring is so fun (for everyone else). It’s like Guess Who: House M.D. edition.
Oh shoot, you’re the person who’s been having trouble eating, aren’t you. Man, I hope they’re able to help you out. So sorry for your health issues.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Broken by design
Why, yes.
No way!
Tried to warn him.
This isn’t news, it just underscores how out-of-touch some demographics are to what most of us deal with.
