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Without evidence of benefit, an intervention should not be presumed to be beneficial or safe.

- Rogue Medic

Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:02:09 -0500 by

Cliff Tuttle at Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk has a couple of posts about the death of Curtis Mitchell. The Power of Saying “I’m Sorry”. Then there is the posting of what I wrote in the comment section. Medic’s Perspective on Mitchell Case.

The original post by Cliff Tuttle is good. I agree that the problem was one of not enough snow plows. My only complaint was that the apology of Public Safety Director Michael Huss is not a real apology. Public Safety Director Michael Huss is only passing the buck and blaming the medics.

It is as if Public Safety Director Michael Huss is saying, I confess! They did it!

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A comment from EMS PRACTITIONER makes the following assertions.

The fault lies with the medics and them alone.

That makes me wonder if this is a pseudonym of Public Safety Director Michael Huss or someone else at City Hall.

and

Even if the ambulance is stuck in the snow… SOMEONE should have WALKED to the house to verify and left their partner with the truck awaiting dig out.

Why even provide ambulances to the medics, at all? The lazy slobs only need to get out and walk and just make it happen (which is the Enron motto). It’s as simple as that. They really are squandering resources that might be better used by the management for vacations and other more important things.

Because, in the eyes of the alleged EMS PRACTITIONER, all EMS does during a snow storm is sit around waiting for someone to pull them out of the snow.

I was shoveling for hours that weekend. With all of that shoveling, I only cleared a small amount of ground. The wind was blowing some of the snow right back where I shoveled. Nobody needed to come pull me out of the snow, because I dug myself out of the snow. I was exhausted, wet, and frustrated. And I didn’t even try to walk a quarter of a mile up and down a steep snow-covered and ice-covered bridge, leaving my partner behind to make excuses about where I went.

What would my partner say?

Dispatch. I don’t care that we are canceled. I don’t care that you are ordering us to leave this location and respond to another patient.

We are unable to respond to any more calls, because my partner decided to head off into the snow to be able to say that somebody got to the residence. He brought a flag to plant as proof that we made it.

Tell all of the other patients that since we are psychic, we know that only this patient will die if we do not reach him. Now leave us alone!

Then maybe a half hour later, maybe 2 hours later, . . .

Dispatch! I see something!

I can’t tell if it is my partner, the patient, or something else. If the patient left the residence by one of the other roads in the area, my partner wouldn’t see him. Or, if my partner took the wrong road, and the patient took the main road, the result would be the same.

I hope it isn’t the patient, because we are out of service until my partner returns.

I would probably get a raise. Public Safety Director Michael Huss and EMS PRACTITIONER would probably hold a press conference praising me. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

I’m sure that’s the way it would happen. There would be no auto-da-fé with me as the main course. I take that on faith.

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Too Old To Work, Too Young to Retire has a post that is also mostly a comment from an earlier post. Comment From Someone In Pittsburgh. Here is a bit of what the media have not been covering.

Our units all trucked through the snow to patients that were critical and life threatening, and even some that weren’t. Several vehicles were stuck for up to 9 hours. Plow requests were being denied because the orders were the trucks couldn’t deviate from their assigned routes.

and

We still remain third service and do all rescue within the City. The Public Safety Director is exploiting this incident to further his agenda.

Public Safety Director Michael Huss had the report from the medical director before his press conference. The medical director’s report did not blame the medics. Public Safety Director Michael Huss has been blaming the medics without any good reason.

Well, maybe there is a good reason. If he does not point the finger at someone else, then he might start to look like the one who was responsible for not arranging for extra snow plows and other means of transport for emergency conditions.

Public Safety is about preparing for emergencies.

It looks as if the plan of Public Safety Director Michael Huss is just blame the medics.

Blame the people who actually transported close to three time their normal number of patients, in spite of the snow-covered and ice-covered roads.

We know where the medics were during the storm.

Where was Public Safety Director Michael Huss?

EMS crews were running without any breaks.

EMS crews were dealing with snow on every call.

It is not lazy to go to the next call, when you are ordered to.

Only excuses are coming from Public Safety Director Michael Huss.

Where were the extra snowplows?

Where were the 4 wheel drive vehicles?

Expecting the medics to make up for the lack of preparation by the city is irresponsible.

We know where the medics were during the storm.

Where was Public Safety Director Michael Huss?

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My other posts on the death of Curtis Mitchell –

City may discipline EMS workers – Public Safety Director Michael Huss – 02/18/10

Where Was Public Safety Director Michael Huss during the Death of Curtis Mitchell? – 02/20/10

Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10

The Need for Evidence Before Assessing Guilt – 02/24/10

Anonymous Comments on the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 03/02/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part I – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part II – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part III – 03/22/10

What kind of punishment do you get for NOT disobeying dispatch? – 03/23/10

The Scapegoats Will Be Punished – 03/23/10

Pittsburgh – Punishment, not Planning – 03/24/10

Josie Dimon was the Scapegoat of Public Safety Director Michael Huss in the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 02/16/11

Michael Huss – Pittsburgh EMS Only Needs Someone Good With a Shovel – 02/16/11

Links updated 02/16/11.

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Filed Under: Critical Judgment, Heresy Tagged With: , , ,

Where Was Public Safety Director Michael Huss during the Death of Curtis Mitchell?

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:09:36 -0500 by

As I wrote in my previous post, City may discipline EMS workers – Public Safety Director Michael Huss, the statement by Public Safety Director Michael Huss is one that suggests that he is covering something up with an absurdly simplistic attempt to blame EMS. What did he say?

Mr. Huss said they should have walked to Mr. Mitchell’s home to retrieve him. “It’s that simple,” he said.[1]

Apparently, Public Safety Director Michael Huss is not aware that there was a snow storm that resulted in a huge delay in responding to calls.

There were 3 dispatches of ambulances while the patient was presumed to be alive.

Each time the ambulance became stuck in the snow about a quarter of a mile from the patient’s residence.

Each time the ambulance was canceled by the caller or the 911 center.

First call. 911 call placed at 02:09 02/06/2010. Call canceled by caller at 03:57 02/06/2010.[2]

Second call. 911 call placed at 04:53 02/06/2010. Call canceled by caller at 06:23 02/06/2010.

Third call. 911 call placed at 11:18 02/06/2010. Call canceled by dispatch at 21:31 02/06/2010.

Fourth call. The next day 911 was called for a DOA (Dead On Arrival).

At no time did EMS crews refuse to transport anyone.

It appears that, after being canceled, EMS continued to dig themselves out of the snow, then they were dispatched to other calls. It appears that all crews were continually assigned to calls.

Where was Public Safety Director Michael Huss during the death of Curtis Mitchell?

Was Public Safety Director Michael Huss doing anything to assist his overworked crews deal with this emergency?

Afterward, Public Safety Director Michael Huss is blaming the crews.

Apparently, Public Safety Director Michael Huss just does not have a clue.

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My other posts on the death of Curtis Mitchell –

City may discipline EMS workers – Public Safety Director Michael Huss – 02/18/10

Where Was Public Safety Director Michael Huss during the Death of Curtis Mitchell? – 02/20/10

Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10

The Need for Evidence Before Assessing Guilt – 02/24/10

Anonymous Comments on the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 03/02/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part I – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part II – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part III – 03/22/10

What kind of punishment do you get for NOT disobeying dispatch? – 03/23/10

The Scapegoats Will Be Punished – 03/23/10

Pittsburgh – Punishment, not Planning – 03/24/10

Josie Dimon was the Scapegoat of Public Safety Director Michael Huss in the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 02/16/11

Michael Huss – Pittsburgh EMS Only Needs Someone Good With a Shovel – 02/16/11

Links updated 02/16/11.

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Footnotes:

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[1] City may discipline EMS workers – Man died at home despite repeated calls to 911 during snowstorm
Thursday, February 18, 2010
By Sadie Gurman,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Article

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2 Medical Call Review for 5161 Chaplain Way 2/6/2010
Ron Roth, MD Final 2/15/10
Medical Director, City of Pittsburgh, Department of Public Safety
Medical Director, Allegheny County Emergency Operations Center
Free Full Text

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Filed Under: Critical Judgment, Heresy Tagged With: , ,

City may discipline EMS workers – Public Safety Director Michael Huss

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:46:14 -0500 by
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Pittsburgh is reported to be considering discipline for EMS workers for not being able to get to a patient due to a snow storm.

Most of the attention seems to be on the facts that the patient called 10 times over 30 hours and died. This is an outcome that is horrible.

Why did he (or his wife) call 10 times?

It started as abdominal pain, progressed to respiratory difficulty, and ended with respiratory and cardiac arrest. If EMS had been able to get to the residence, there would have been no need to keep calling.

Why couldn’t EMS get to the residence?

This is the important information.

–

The first two calls for ambulances were graded E-2, or less pressing, because Mr. Mitchell told call-takers he was suffering from stomach pains, a symptom deemed not life-threatening. The third call was an E-1, because he was short of breath, and the fourth call was an E-0 — the highest priority — because he was no longer breathing.[1]

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The couple called 911 10 times starting early Saturday, Feb. 6, but impassable roads, poor communication and a high number of calls meant an ambulance did not arrive until the morning of Feb. 7, after Mr. Mitchell had died.[1]

–

Ambulances were dispatched three times on Feb. 6 to the house in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn’t get there because of the snow. Communication problems meant that each call was seen as a separate request for help, so dispatchers did not know details from the previous calls that were placed.[1]

–

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh’s dispatch does not appear to have any way of tracking calls. Suppose there is a shooting at one address. A 911 call is made for EMS to the same address, but the caller does not mention the shooting. If EMS arrives before police, then EMS may be the first responders to realize that things are not exactly as dispatched. Surprise!

I have called Philadelphia 911 dispatch to update them on an apparent drunk driver, who woke up and started to drive away before police arrived. I was told that dispatch has absolutely no way to update responding police to any change once I hang up. The dispatcher told me that a separate dispatch needed to be made, rather than update the responding unit(s). When the apparently drunk driver did stop, the first police officer on scene was just driving by. She had not been dispatched. The next 2 police officers on scene had also just been driving by. They had not been dispatched. When I left, about 10 minutes after the arrival of the second and third police officers, there was still no sign of any police actually dispatched to the call.

I hope that Pittsburgh 911 dispatch is run a bit more intelligently than in Philadelphia. From what is reported in this article, it does not seem that the administration has considered the possibility that any information not provided by the caller would be of any importance.

–

As part of the probe, Public Safety Director Michael Huss said he is reviewing calls to and from Allegheny County’s 911 center during the 30 hours that Curtis Mitchell, 50, and his longtime girlfriend waited for help to arrive.[1]

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Mr. Huss said they should have walked to Mr. Mitchell’s home to retrieve him. “It’s that simple,” he said.[1]

If paramedics had left their ambulance in the middle of the street and climbed through the snow, how far would they have had to go to get to the residence? What equipment would they have needed? Would they have been criticized by Public Safety Director Michael Huss, if they had not had all of their equipment with them. Would they have been able to move Mr. Mitchell to the ambulance? What means would they have had to use? Were there stairs? Were the stairs covered with ice and/or snow?

More importantly – was any assistance sent to clear the road to get the ambulance to the scene and to help move the patient to the ambulance?

It seems that there is no plan in Pittsburgh for dealing with weather emergencies. That might be expected in a small town, but Pittsburgh is not a small town. Another thing that Pittsburgh is not is flat.

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Picture credit – Ainulindale

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Picture credit – Conk 9 (talk)

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Pittsburgh occupies the slopes of the river valley on the opposite side of the Monongahela and the ridges beyond. Many of the city’s neighborhoods, particularly the city’s North Side and those areas south of the Bungalow, are steeply sloped.[2]

Sloped. Not slightly sloped, but many are steeply sloped.

Maybe these pictures are not representative of the neighborhood where Mr. Mitchell lived, but they are taken from within Pittsburgh. Clearly, this is a problem that has to be addressed when the roads are slippery. There needs to be a plan to deal with hills like this during heavy snow. According to Wikipedia, the average snowfall per year is over 40 inches. This is not the first time the city has seen snow.[3]

I would like to ask Public Safety Director Michael Huss what his emergency plan is for dealing with ambulances on steeply sloped roads in heavy snow.

It appears that the plan of Public Safety Director Michael Huss is to do nothing, then blame the EMS crew later.

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Mr. Huss said they should have walked to Mr. Mitchell’s home to retrieve him. “It’s that simple,” he said.[1]

No.

It is not that simple.

How many EMS crews were involved over 30 hours and 10 calls? How many dispatchers? How many supervisors? None of them were able to come up with a way to get Mr. Mitchell to the ambulance? Perhaps Public Safety Director Michael Huss does not understand the word simple.

If the solution were as simple as Public Safety Director Michael Huss states, then Mr. Mitchell would have been transported on the first 911 call. Maybe he would have died anyway, but he would have been able to go to the hospital.

–

Public Safety Director Michael Huss,

What is your emergency plan for dealing with ambulances on steeply sloped roads in heavy snow?

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Does anyone in Pittsburgh have any further information on what happened? Road conditions, emergency plan, dispatch, management, et cetera. If you do not want to post anything in the comments, you can email me directly at the email below.

roguemedicblog@gmail.com

Late addition 04:00 02/19/10 – A similar conclusion coming from different sources of information and a slightly different perspective at Too Old To Work, Too Young to Retire in Trouble Right Here In Three River City.

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My other posts on the death of Curtis Mitchell –

City may discipline EMS workers – Public Safety Director Michael Huss – 02/18/10

Where Was Public Safety Director Michael Huss during the Death of Curtis Mitchell? – 02/20/10

Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10

The Need for Evidence Before Assessing Guilt – 02/24/10

Anonymous Comments on the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 03/02/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part I – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part II – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part III – 03/22/10

What kind of punishment do you get for NOT disobeying dispatch? – 03/23/10

The Scapegoats Will Be Punished – 03/23/10

Pittsburgh – Punishment, not Planning – 03/24/10

Josie Dimon was the Scapegoat of Public Safety Director Michael Huss in the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 02/16/11

Michael Huss – Pittsburgh EMS Only Needs Someone Good With a Shovel – 02/16/11

Links updated 02/16/11.

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Footnotes:

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[1] City may discipline EMS workers – Man died at home despite repeated calls to 911 during snowstorm
Thursday, February 18, 2010
By Sadie Gurman,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Article

–

[2] Pittsburgh
Wikipedia
Geography

–

[3] Pittsburgh
Wikipedia
Climate

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Filed Under: Critical Judgment, Heresy Tagged With: ,

Zero Tolerance I – Basic EMT Oversight of Paramedics

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:34:57 -0400 by
Imagine a world where an organization that is not really interested in providing EMS has been put in charge of EMS. How would patient care concerns be handled in an organization that having engaged in a hostile takeover of the local ambulance drivers, finds it is now responsible for supervising patient care. Not that this would ever happen, because the public is too sensible to fall for this.

This would be like Walmart taking over hospitals in the area, because they already have much of what a hospital uses and they have an excellent supply network to get everything else (and at a lower price). But this is EMS, so if your branch of government is faced with downsizing, you might as well take over the unimportant but staffing friendly job that is EMS. What could go wrong?

Well, how would we arrange supervision, so that the best care is delivered to the patient? It is a patient care business, so the existing medical personnel, in the organization taking over, would handle that. That is if there were any medical personnel in the corporate raider’s non-medical supervisory structure. Here is a story from just such a corporate raider situation. Of course, this is not a real story, because no corporate raider would ever have the hubris to do this.

Imagine 2 different protocol violations. The protocol is below.[1] How would you handle the discipline on these two instances of protocol violation?

One violation is by a medic giving morphine for back pain without medical command permission. The protocol has no provision for treating back pain without at least attempting medical command contact. MVC (Motor Vehicle Collision) with a chronic pain patient already receiving pain medication. Medic does not call for orders. Medic gives everyone at the ED a bunch of attitude. Medic is suspended.

The second violation is by a different medic. A patient with an obvious humerus fracture. Pain is 10/10. If you look at the protocol, they do not allow treatment if the GCS (Glasgow Coma Score) is less than 15. I do not believe that you can have true 10/10 pain and be fully oriented, but that is a different post. The medic initiates treatment with 5 mg morphine slow IVP (IntraVenous Push). The protocol states that dosing is to be 2 mg to 4 mg at a time. The pain is still 10/10. The medic repeats the dose of 5 mg morphine slow IVP. Pain is now 7/10. Atta boy!

This is what EMS is about. We are supposed to make a difference. This is good treatment. This treatment did slightly exceed the dosing guidelines in the protocol. I have started out with 10 mg morphine on several patients – slow IVP initial dose. I have repeated the dose of 10 mg morphine later in the same patients. This is not bad care. We are supposed to adjust treatment to the patient.

The second medic arrives at the ED (Emergency Department) with the much improved patient, realizes that the protocol called for 4 mg, 4 mg, and 2 mg as the acceptable way of treating the patient. Perhaps 3 1/3 mg, 3 1/3 mg, and 3 1/3 mg. The medic notifies the doctor. The doctor, recognizes that the protocol violation is not a significant one and begins treating the patient’s 7/10 pain with dilaudid, which is much stronger than morphine.

In the first case, the medic gave the doctor a hard time about the medic’s violation of protocol.

In the second case, the medic started out by pointing out the protocol violation. Not a willful violation, just a mistake of dosing when dealing with a patient in severe pain. Not even close to an unreasonable dose of morphine, so there is no significant danger to the patient.

The second medic notified all of the appropriate people in the NEMSO (short for – NEMSOTCPEMSBOAAA, which is short for – Non-EMS Organization That Coincidentally Provides EMS, But Only As An Afterthought) and writes an incident report. The brass feel that informal counseling is all that is needed. The Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM (I Have More Important Things To Do Than Deal With A Bunch Of Medics) looks at the paperwork and decides that there is no difference between these protocol violations. The Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM decides that the punishment should be the same as for the completely outside of protocol treatment.

The Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM, Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM and Medical Director all disagree with the Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM. They make it clear that they disagree. They are overruled. Now this Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM is not a Paramedic, not a Nurse, not a Physician Assistant, and not a Doctor. There are so many things that this Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM is not, that I could go on for days. That does not stop him from overruling the medical director on patient care issues.

What describes dangerous better? Some novice completely untrained person telling experts that he knows better. Does he offer proof to support his contrary to medical advice decision? No.

He knows better than everyone trained in the field, because that is the way the chain of command works. If that know-it-all Medical Director doesn’t keep his nose out of corporate raider business, the Medical Director can find work elsewhere. After all, Medical Directors are a dime a dozen.

Are these protocol violations the same?

Both are cases of medical treatment of pain with morphine.

Let us assume that the Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM responds to a magnesium fire. You know those retina burning, hard to recognize fires. If the Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM decides it is a fire and should be treated just like any other fire, that would be bad. If the Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM does not see the difference between these fires, he is applying the same lack of understanding that he is applying in making medical decisions. Not that this has anything to do with Fire Departments as corporate raiders. That would be silly.

The discipline that seems most needed here is suspension, at the least. Not suspension for the medic, but suspension for the Executive Grand Supervising IHMITTDTDWABOM making ALS (Advanced Life Support) medical decisions without any training or understanding of his complete inability to be competent in this are.

Performance Indicators:

Pain Scale Before and After Treatment?

Great Job!


Vital Signs Before and After Treatment?

Great Job!


Patient Mental Status?

Great Job!


Response to Treatment?

Great Job!


Patient Disposition?

Great Job!

This is performance that should be punished?

Anyway, here is the protocol. Please let me know what you think in the comments.

^ 1 Pain Management:
Non-Cardiac

Examples Include:
Suspected kidney stones
Sickle cell crisis
Isolated extremity trauma
Cancer

Initial treatment is according to relevant protocol

Pain >5 on a 0 to 10 scale?

Blood pressure > 100 mmHg systolic with no evidence of inadequate perfusion?

Glasgow Coma Score = 15?

Isolated extremity trauma?

2-4 mg Morphine IV/IM every 5 minutes (Do not give more than 10 mg without medical command permission)

Contact Medical Command

Pediatric Patients (<5 years old):
Morphine 0.1 mg/kg IV/IM (May repeat one time only)
(Do not give more than the adult dose without medical command permission)

Performance Indicators:

Pain Scale Before and After Treatment
Vital Signs Before and After Treatment
Patient Mental Status
Response to Treatment
Patient Disposition

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Filed Under: Heresy, Zero Tolerance Tagged With: , , , , ,

President Obama’s Speech on Health Care

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:05:03 -0500 by
The part of the President’s speech that relates to health care are copied from White Coat’s Call Room.

For that same reason, we must also address the crushing cost of health care.

This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds.

Isn’t this supposed to be the President, who makes us forget about all of the verbal blunders of the past 8 years? When nobody understands statistics, will any intelligent decisions be made?

On average the statement may be true, but that is not what he said. You would have to believe that there is some official timer making sure that each bankruptcy happens at just the right time. Those 3 AM bankruptcies are probably the most difficult. You’ll just have to wait your turn. The people in front of you still have 17 seconds before they become bankrupt.

The same thing is done in misrepresenting rapes, deaths of babies, becoming a millionaire, . . . . If this is all so controllable, I think I would choose to become a millionaire, rather than to become a dead baby, or to get raped. I’m odd that way.

This is not some minor point. The people in charge do not understand statistics. The people in charge are using statistics to make decisions. Slasher movies are less scary than this.

Look at what has been done with the economy. The bankers have misrepresented the risks they were taking. This is probably because they did not understand those risks. These same bankers are still considered to be an essential part of the solution. The only problem the administration seems to be worried about is capping salaries and bonuses. The real problem is the bankers and the regulators. The people who continually encouraged the reckless risk taking that they claimed was not risky.

The solution seems to be to keep the guilty in positions where they can continue to cause harm and pass the buck. They are passing out bucks like crazy. that is the right word for it. Crazy. Bernanke, Paulson, the heads of the banks, . . . . Why get rid of the problem, when you can throw money at it – and end up with more control over the banks?

By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes. In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages.

Health care costs are rising for many reasons. One is the attempt to do everything for everybody. When people feels entitled to concierge level care, then who will turn down having everything done, just in case? Not many do. Then, if everything is not perfect, some of these pampered idiots will sue. There are many things that might help, but hardly a consensus on what will work.

Perhaps the best start would be to eliminate JCAHO/TJC and Press Ganey. JCAHO/TJC is the Joint Commission for Accrediting Healthcare Organizations – now trying to give the appearance of impressive new management with a new name – The Joint Commission. Their motto is, There is no such thing as a health care Mafia. That is just a myth to discredit our valiant efforts to prove that the clipboard is mightier than the physician.

Press Ganey is the empowerment organization for malingerers with inconveniences or addictions. Scum who demand to be treated ahead of those with life threatening conditions – true emergencies. The Press Ganey motto is, We will help you make those know-it-all doctors jump through hoops, just to please you. Remember, you’re worth it!

And in each of these years, one million more Americans have lost their health insurance. It is one of the major reasons why small businesses close their doors and corporations ship jobs overseas. And it’s one of the largest and fastest-growing parts of our budget.

Pay no attention to the slight problem of printing money faster than we can throw it at people, people who have demonstrated gross incompetence in money management.

Given these facts, we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold.

Given the facts of printing money like a counterfeiter on methamphetamines, keeping the dangerous people in charge, and completely misunderstanding the problems, why put anything on hold? Do it all now. Wave a magic wand of change and it will all get better. Really.

Already, we have done more to advance the cause of health care reform in the last thirty days than we have in the last decade.

But is it good reform?

Is the cause health care reform for the sake of health care reform, or health care reform for the sake of patients?

When it was days old, this Congress passed a law to provide and protect health insurance for eleven million American children whose parents work full-time.

Parents will no longer have to pay for health insurance directly. The government will pay for it. Which just means that parents pay for it indirectly. Not seeing the cost of health care choices is part of the problem. The solution to the problem is more of the same.

Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy, and save lives.

It is a good thing that President Obama learned from the mistakes of President Bush. Don’t declare victory too soon.

When none of these things happen, will President Obama apologize to America.

Ensure privacy? Since that is impossible, we are obviously dealing with someone, who does not understand the problems.

It will launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time.

JFK did a slightly better job of getting people interested in going to the moon. This cancer comment fell flat. Did Bobby Voodoo Jindal write this for him?

And it makes the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that is one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control.

Since preventive care means to keep our people healthy, he might as well be saying that cancer treatments are the best way to treat cancer.

President Obama seems to think that the best way to reform financial problems is by giving money to those who caused the banking problem. What could possibly go wrong with this approach?

This budget builds on these reforms. It includes an historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform – a down-payment on the principle that we must have quality, affordable health care for every American. It’s a commitment that’s paid for in part by efficiencies in our system that are long overdue. And it’s a step we must take if we hope to bring down our deficit in the years to come.

At White Coat’s Call Room, this is debunked very nicely.

Now, there will be many different opinions and ideas about how to achieve reform, and that is why I’m bringing together businesses and workers, doctors and health care providers, Democrats and Republicans to begin work on this issue next week.

Gosh, there is not yet a plan, but there are already results.

I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard. But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.

Non sequiturs rule!

Note to Bobby Jindal. American astronauts did land on the moon. This is science, and nobody would expect you to be aware of science. You managed to major in biology, yet still think Intelligent Design should be taught as science. So what if they did not return with cheese?

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Filed Under: Heresy, Irrational Government Oversight, Miracles Tagged With: ,
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