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…
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.
You don’t get to play the Prisoners Dilemma, publicly betray the other as your opening gambit, and then foam at the mouth that everyone is refusing to cooperate for the next 3 years.
There is no point in arguing this.
You can believe the ends justify the means however you want.
I watched people very-close-to-me die from COVID in front of me as an essential worker. I was told a mask would not save my life. I was a pig for the slaughter.
Science can be infallible. People aren’t. I will never trust the CDC again.
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.
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.
Yeah, sorry, man. Freaking anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers had me on edge for so long, that it was practically an automatic response.
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Some people haven’t had the joy of being in the ED or receiving care at a hospital in the US.
As a Canadian, the idea of paying thousands, even in Canadian dollars, for a single healthcare visit, seems absolutely insane to me.
I can’t imagine living under that kind of threat. I would be deathly scared of getting injured, by no fault of my own, and ending up in the poor house as a result. Forget having any… More voluntary… medical costs, like having a child. I couldn’t imagine doing that knowing what it would cost me.
Honestly, if I was in that situation, I’d be scared of doctors too. Having to choose between having good health but being unable to afford the basics, or living with disorder or disease, would probably break me.
And it’s not hard to extrapolate the problems you start to face when the average person is afraid to go to the doctor
I recently got one single stitch in my hand. $2k after insurance paid their portion and I think I have pretty good insurance. I should have done it myself.
Welcome to America…
Did he even get the full bill. Last time I went to an ER, I paid off something and then two years later got sent another bill. I called and said, this is a mistake, right? First lady said probably, everyone else said nope. This is your physician’s bill. The other one was a hospital bill. I asked, why did I then get it for the first time after a visit from TWO years ago?? What was goin on in the mean time? “Oh we were transitioning companies, probably something to do with that?” I tried to fight it, I got a reduced price, but that was so insane to me
I got hit with Lyme AFTER I lost my job last year. I got the bill for my ER visit, it sucked, but I was expecting it. To add insult to injury they sent me another bill, which was physician bill. The system is so fuvking stupid, it will kick you when you’re down. Next time I’m just flying to Europe somewhere to get a treatment.
I have a little experience with the medical billing system for this fantastic country that I’m lucky and unlucky enough not to live in (yes, both lucky and unlucky; different reasons).
It’s messed up. There are band-aids in place to keep costs down for charges billed to medicare and medicaid, but that just makes the whole thing worse because it adds a lot of extra complexity and everyone else likely gets fleeced to make up for the new overhead. The medicare 8 minute rule itself isn’t that complex, but add modifiers for activities performed by different providers (in therapy, this could be a PT and a PTA providing the same service, for different lengths of time, on the same visit)? It goes NUTS.
Single payer healthcare with optional private coverage would solve nearly everything. The cost to the patient first and foremost, but also the cost to the government itself, due to greatly decreased complexity. And private clinics and private insurance don’t have to disappear, they can still provide more high-end services, or shorter wait times, for those who can ACTUALLY AFFORD IT.
Can’t the surgeon general just perform surgery on himself to save the money?
On February 14 I met my max out of pocket for the year. I had an upper and lower GI taken which is the bulk of the cost. My insurance is already refusing to cover some of my diabetes medication, because some people use it to lose weight (Mounjaro). I need it to keep my A1C levels under 10. I already weigh the ideal weight for my height. Because it’s so expensive and insurance doesn’t cover it, I will end up going without for the rest of the year. My old insurance covered it, but my company switched insurance in January. New insurance has never equaled better insurance. I’m so tired of insurance being tied to my job.
I just want to make sure one of the options you tried was a different medicine. Doctors can be pretty good about playing the insurance game sometimes
We have tried other medication, which is how we found that this one actually worked.
I had to ask. I’ve had doctors figure out how to best insurance
I love how it’s some bureaucrats job to decide what medication is best for his needs. Not OP, who had been having desired results prior to his employer switching insurance, and not his PCP, who is more closely tied to his outcomes than anyone else.
Have you tried any online Canadian pharmacies? That’s what we had to do for a few of the scripts that were exorbitantly expensive here in the States.
This medication isn’t available on a lot of those sites. I’ve looked, but I haven’t checked Canada yet. I’ll give it a go soon.
You’ll be surprised in two years when you find out you owe that.
Why didn’t he just go to one of them spa and get a $150 iv drip
You mean those mobile IV vans? Those are only in major cities and when you’re suffering dehydration from like a stomach virus you don’t have time to schedule an appointment if you’re dying.
Treatment for dehydration should absolutely be added to free essential care under Obamacare, at a minimum.
In my area it’s not a van but a brand with a bunch of locations all over they do like freeze therapy and all sorts of iv drips. Definitely further away than the nearest hospital but we also shouldn’t need to go to a hospital for things like this that can be handled at walk in clinics if insurance companies would start offering better pay to those types of business.
Dude went the the mofo Mayo Clinic for dehydration. Gets a $5000 bill.
Surprised Pikachu face.
That amount isn’t much more than our shitty local emergency rooms charge for walking in the door.
Well, everyone knows you’re not supposed to go to the Mayo Clinic for dehydration. That’s just common sense.
Of course a saline drip is going to cost you $5k at the Mayo Clinic. DUH!
He should have gone to the other clinic that doesn’t charge as much. And the name of that clinic is…
Mexico
Not sure what the sarcasm is about, but the Mayo Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world. It’s not unreasonable for them to charge higher than average.
I’m not saying that makes the $5k bill reasonable, just giving more context to the comment you replied to.
the Mayo Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world
You don’t need a heart surgeon to provide a saline drip.
You’re right, a RN would probably be qualified. But what’s your point? Their nurses are also paid more than average, not just the heart surgeons. If you need basic care go to a basic clinic.
(Not defending the $5k bill)
(Not defending the $5k bill)
Then what are you defending? An IV takes a few minutes to insert. If the RN is earning $200/hr and the bag costs 10x the going rate of around $11, you’re still talking about a 16x markup.
I’m defending the idea that one of the best hospitals in the world would charge more than an ordinary clinic. All healthcare in this country is overpriced, but I don’t see anything wrong with incentivising people to offer better services. The best doctors and nurses should get paid the most.
I’m defending the idea that one of the best hospitals in the world would charge more than an ordinary clinic.
Would affordability not be factored into a hospital’s quality? If a hospital puts even the most routine care at an inaccessible price point, I would consider that a black mark on their ability to deliver service.
I don’t see anything wrong with incentivising people to offer better services.
Again, I don’t see any relationship between the price-tag of a saline drip and the quality of service. Not when the price is that astronomical.
If you put in an order for a hamburger, the meal shows up, and then waiter hands you a check for $500, the advertised assertion that this is “The Best Burger!” does not transform a quarter pound of grilled ground beef into its weight in gold.
The best doctors and nurses should get paid the most.
There is no reason to believe a saline drip at Mayo Clinic is going to be meaningfully different from any bog standard city hospital.
All the price tag accomplishes is to screen people in need of care from the facility based on their income.
Do you have a choice of which hospital you go to when put into an ambulance?
(Never ridden in one, when I needed one I drove my self out of fear of the bill).
Generally speaking, the ambulance should take you to the nearest available ER. Some shady services may divert riders to affiliated hospitals.
I’ve heard more than a few instances of ambulances being redirected from hospitals entirely based on the prospective ability of the rider to pay.
So you’ve got even less control than you’d initially suspect.
“Here’s a bottle of water, that’ll be $5000. Have a nice day.”
It was probably Pedialyte
Intravenous Pedialyte, I love it. Wish they added Red 8 and Blue 40 to IV bags to make them more fun and so that my kids begged to go and get IV drips.
Don’t forget the carbonation for cool looking bubbles!
Broken by design
I wonder if he just noticed because it’s been capitalist hellscape for a long time now. Welcome to the trenches, fellow working class member. Your ability to have basic healthcare is based entirely around your ability to scrape enough money together between hospital visits. Failure to do so will have lifelong impacts, so I suggest you start eating cereal for dinner to save some cash for the next time you need basic human help.
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.
Never been to the US before I guess 🤷♂️ He got off pretty light at 5k.
