H1N1 Flu Pandemic - Warning!

The Watchman has a special interest in public health, having worked in the field for a number years on the environmental side as well as having a degree in environment health science. The transmission of disease has always fascinated me as well as the detective work it takes to figure out how it happens. Nearly a year ago we heard about a serious form of influenza striking in the heart of Mexico. At the time public health officials down-played the threat, relegating the new virus to "no big deal" status. Later, officials took it off the watch list and most public health workers breathed a sigh of relief. Another flu pandemic bullet dodged. Or so they believed.

In July the World Health Organization (WHO) revised their call, and declared the H1N1 flu a true pandemic virus. Late last week WHO public health officials warned of a new twist to the virus, its attack on the human respiratory system directly, with deadly outcomes previously not anticipated. Severe H1N1 It appears this virus has particularly nasty habit of attacking children and young adults. If true to form, it will also kill the elderly either from the flu or complications such as pneumonia.

What is so eerie about this virus is its copy-cat sneaky invasion as the great Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919. That virus acted very similar in its docile appearance early on, then after one or two waves around the world, it mutated into something truly terrify and very deadly. If you want to read about one of the darkest times in world health, take a look at John M. Barry's "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History". It is truly scary how the pandemic spread with hardly any official government action out of fears it might cause panic or worse negatively impact the war effort. But equally comforting is the realization that much of what we today call modern health care was born out of the American medical profession's response to the crisis, as well as, the heroic effort of micro-biologists to find answers in the budding American research labs.

The Watchman's advice is to review your personal medical situation, get vaccinated if in one of the high risk groups, and heed FEMA/CDC guides for preparation of prolonged disruption of normal public services. Think on this: most medium and small towns have maybe two or three employees who know to operate the drinking water system. If they become sick, who will ensure safe water continues to be pumped into the distribution system. Same for waste water, trash collection, food distribution and so on. In 1918, in some cities the dead were piled outside of homes and city workers carted the dead off to mass burial plots. The story of Philadelphia is particularly instructive on how a pandemic can spread and what consequences occur without proper and timely public health action.

I don't mean to cause panic or spread wild rumors, but an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure, and just maybe your life.

What Ever Happened to Marcus Welby, MD

I wonder where and when Marcus Welby, MD disappeared from the scene? You might not remember Doctor Marcus Welby. He was a dedicated family practitioner who combined cool intellect with professional acumen and was a highly successful doctor. In fact he was so successful many others were encouraged likewise to become doctors. What Dr. Welby did for the medical profession is much like what the TV shows about CSI is doing for forensic science: motivate people to take on a challenging career.

Lest you think Marcus Welby, MD was a real doctor that he was not. He was a character played by Robert Young from 1969 to 1976 in the medical drama of the same name. The show was number one in its second year and stayed in the top 20 for most of its run. But what I find myself contemplating was how Dr. Welby seemed to focus on curing the sick, not fighting insurance companies and government regulation. Even more odd, was the show only had one nurse and the nurse also worked as the practices' secretary! Amazingly, there were never any shows about the ability of a patent's ability to pay the office visit or co-pay.

What happened between 1969 and 2009? Here are a few ideas:

** Malpractice Insurance went through the roof due to unrestrained lawsuit payouts. Thank you John 'medical trial lawyer' Edwards, et al.
** Employer paid insurance benefits to union workers - non-union companies forced to follow suit to acquire top workers. Also private policy insurance can't compete
** Demise of major medical policies replaced by full coverage policies. Increased risk equates to increased costs even if spread over millions of policy holders.
** HIPPA - Single biggest invasion of government in health care to date. How many privacy act statements have you signed? Each one has to be processed and recorded.
** US Food and Drug Agency - More governmental requirements and costs, some for safety to be sure, many inane rules that only increase costs.
** Doctor rationing by medical schools. Fewer doctors means greater pay for demand
** Insurance networks - Doctors either join the network or have no patients
** Demise of single owner - private hospitals and independent Doctors. Now all are part of big corporate operations and networks having huge overhead costs.
** Third Party Administrators - Part of overhead to control costs - Often the insurance company's gate keeper for coverage.
** 12+ million illegal immigrants going to emergency rooms for treatment.
** Over use of specialist - MRIs and Labs in every facility & if the ailment can't be fixed in the allotted 15 minutes with the PCP, its off to a specialist.
** Indulgent society I -Pills for everything - A no pain society.
** Indulgent society II - Triple Bacon Cheese Whoppers for lunch with a giant side of FF & gulp cup coke.
** Indulgent society III - we drive to the post box instead of walk.

Next time you go to the doctor, count the number of non-medically related folks you observe. Every one of them with the exception of the receptionist is there because of insurance claim processing, government documentation requirements, or financial accounting. Thirty years ago, Consuelo Lopez, Dr. Welby's loyal and able nurse had time to hand out candy to the children. Now she's too busy with meeting the increasing demands of the industrial-medical complex.

Off The Reservation...For a Day

Took the day off and went for a nice ride on the V-Star up to Woodland Park. Wow, why didn't I discover the stress releasing wonder of zooming along at 60 MPH through tight mountain curves sooner? Such power and smooth motoring. Amazing machine and fun to control. I just might give up the working life and ride off into the sunset. Oh..guess I've got to pay for the bike and my other bad habits.

Why Are We Outraged?

The Watchman came across news of the "End-of-Life Guide" supposedly brought back into distribution to Veterans by the Obama Administration. The airwaves are a twitter with outrage and one Senator (Arlen "Turn Coat" Spector) hotly called for a congressional investigation. Guess that's one way to shore up a weasel's flip flopping. As it turns out, apparently the guide was published up to 1997 when it was taken out of circulation. While the BHO administration is dumb to bring it back now while we are all arguing over 'death panels', it was used in past democratic and republican led VA administrations. So let's call this one, at least on the surface, a draw.

That said, the blogs title, "Why Are We Outraged?" reflects the concern of our apparent national hypocrisy over death issues, where death is either at the hands of an abortionist or from the needle for euthanasia of our elders. Indeed why are we outraged? With abortion, killing an innocent unborn defenseless baby, it is done with nary a thought or a how-de-do. The industrial-abortion factories churn out over 1.5 million abortions a year. Big business if I ever saw one! So why the outrage over suggesting a few Vets think of offing themselves? The true 100% disabled, functionally worthless blobs of living tissue are hardly any different than their younger yet unborn counter parts at the other end of the spectrum. Wouldn't it be more convenient for them and other non-vets of similar circumstance to simply pull the plug and just DIE. They are a burden on society aren't they? They require constant care like a baby don't they? They might be of a terrible home-family situation where the wife does crack or is a prostitute. May be the parents don't have extra money to care for their wounded Solider, the poor soul would be sentenced to a life of deprivation. So wouldn't it be just better for the Vet and disabled if we just ended their lives for them? They probably would thank us, don't you think?

Once a nation begins to slide down that slippery slope of considering one segment of society to be worthless, it doesn't take long to find other segments to be equally unworthy of life, liberty, and happiness. So if you are going to be outraged about suggesting we snuff out disabled Vets, handicapped, and elderly citizens, then you'd better be outraged by the blind killing of the unborn. By the millions.