Small Talk in the Waiting Room

By John Ballard

The doors are closed.
Big shots are lighting up.
Brian Lamb is persona non grata.
Sausage is being made.

In other words, a health care bill is being patched together following almost a year of political deal-making that even at this late date may very well not amount to anything. Americans are like a family in the waiting room while a team of doctors and support staff are in the surgery. And let's face it, not everyone in the waiting room wants the patient to come through the operation alive. They won't admit it, but there are heirs to certain inherited assets and beneficiaries to insurance policies who stand to gain if the patient dies.

Enough of that. Here are a couple of snips that turned up this evening.

C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb recently sent a letter to the President and Congressional leaders "respectfully request[ing] that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American." That request went unheeded.
Given (candidate) Obama's insistence on transparency in the health care negotiations, Gibbs probably should have expected to face at least a couple questions on the president's blatant about-face. But asked about "something that's in direct violation of a promise [Obama] made during the campaign," in the words of one correspondent, Gibbs dismissed the issue and refused to answer. LINK

At Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda, one of the most respected professionals in the country, has a lot to say while we wait. More at the link but this caught my eye.

Abortion

For the life of me I can't see the logic in the arguments against using taxpayer dollars to pay for a legal procedure. This country is ostensibly a democracy where majority rules, a nation ruled by law and not by men and women. Except when it comes to abortion. I understand some people are vehemently opposed to abortion, some are opposed to abortion in certain instances, and others believe it is none of the government's business. Regardless, abortion is the only issue where politicians have been able to prevent the use of taxpayer dollars to fund something that is entirely legal.

And now that it's all over but the shouting, Maggie Mahar turns her attention abroad for an example of how MRSA infections have been successfully controlled in Norway, as opposed to how Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in this and several other countries rage out of control.

...at a microscopic level, and this place is pristine. There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospital of Europe, North America and Asia this year, soaring virtually unchecked.

�The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs.

�Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics.

�Now a spate of new studies from around the world prove that Norway's model can be replicated with extraordinary success, and public health experts are saying these deaths--19,000 in the U.S. each year alone, more than from AIDS--are unnecessary.

��It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this, because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be controlled...

No spoilers from me. Go read the post and find out the details.
And when you're done, check out Part 2 which follows.

The time, energy, hopes and hard work would feel okay if the results were better. Unfortunately meaningful improvements will have to wait for another round. And by then  Beck, Palin and the Teabag Party may kill this baby in the cradle. And these are the people opposing to killing the unborn.