Here is Newfoundland/Labrador political leader Danny Williams' explanation why he came to the US for open-heart surgery, as reported by the Canadian Press:
This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.
"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."
The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.
Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.
His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.
He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.
That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.
Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.
"I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.
Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada."I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.
"(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."
N.B., Williams was permitted only two surgical procedures under HC rules in Canada, both of which required breaking his bones to reach his heart, whereas in America an incision was made under his arm, bypassing his rib cage.
Williams added that he thinks Canada's HC system dandy, but not for this kind of specialty. He may not know that this kind of specialty exists here because unlike in Canada HC is not run by the government.
Yesterday a scathing report was issued on Stafford Hospital, run by Britain's National Health Service:
Staff shortages at Stafford Hospital meant that patients went unwashed for weeks, were left without food or drink and were even unable to get to the lavatory. Some lay in soiled sheets that relatives had to take home to wash, others developed infections or had falls, occasionally fatal. Many staff did their best but the attitude of some nurses “left a lot to be desired”.
The report, which follows reviews by the Care Quality Commission and the Department of Health, said that “unimaginable” suffering had been caused. Regulators said last year that between 400 and 1,200 more patients than expected may have died at the hospital from 2005 to 2008.
Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, said there could be “no excuses” for the failures and added that the board that presided over the scandal had been replaced. An undisclosed number of doctors and at least one nurse are being investigated by the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council.
How come? Seems that meeting government-mandated cost-cutting targets drove this ghastly mess. The Daily Mail UK has more grisly detail on Stafford, including one family that lost four members to gross lack of care within 18 months--and almost lost a fifth!
Bottom Line. Government systems are hostile to specialty surgery because their decisions are made by bureaucrats following bureaucratic rules based upon averages for the population, not individual needs. That is why ObamaCare would undermine American specialty care, for allegedly greater public good. And government are is driven by cost control-even more than private insurers, who are easier to sue if bad decisions are made. From such favors the voters must save us, come November.
Letter from the Capitol, LFTC, 9/11, Economy, Conservative Politics
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