>
> Only three months from "first symptoms" till "beyond repair" doesn't sound
> very realistic.
defends on how you define symptom.....*many* forms of cancer are hard to
diagnose early because by the time they cause you actual pain they have
spread and it is a death sentence. Ovarian is one of the nasty ones.
>
> BTW, when you check the archives you'll find out that I've explained the
> workings of the Dutch health care system more than once. It is *not* a
> run-by-government-only system.
>
I think most Americans see health-care systems as a sharp dichotomy
between the totally capitalist system we have here (and ther is really no
way to reform it because so much money is tied up in it) and totally
socialistic. "AACK! Socialized medicine! Scream! Run away!" Well socialist
(or even mixed) ssystems don't always produce the greatest advances in
medical technology (American capitalism made that fancy machine so you can
live to be 100...if you can afford it) but are great for making sure
everyone gets vaccinated, doesn't postpone treatment till too late (when
it is not only relatively useless but more expensive too) and for ensuring
public health and control of infectious disease. Perhaps the best way to
live to be real old is to be a wealthy American so you can have every
medical technology money can buy. Lack of care for the poor in the USA
however, may lead to disaster as new infectious disease emerge or
re-emerge or if, god forbid some terrorist uses a bio-weapon and we have a
real plague. Pathogens don't respect social class - but the public health
budget keeps getting cut and agencies trying to help the poor find
themselves dealing with conditions like it was THird World.
Mostly what I've heard is (exept fo the poor) USA has the best *quality*
care while Europe is more of a lowest common denominator. THat's changeing
I think, not because European care has necessarily gotten better (I've
never lived in Europe so i can't say) but because greedy HMOs and insurers
are as bad or worse for physicians to deal with as any government entity,
and doctors are under huge presure to cut costs. The quality of care for
many Americans could actueally end up sinking to a "socialist" level. If
it hasn't already. (Tell me a socialized-medicine horror story, I'll tell
you an HMO horror story, till we're both blue in the face huh?)
Hey, Soviet medicine was horrible but at least people got their
shots....Now Russians have "freedom" to get diseases and no safety net
whatsoever....and could spread disease to other countries too.
Kristin
