It’s a provocative question, I will admit, but consider this:
Questions are arising over whether a medical helicopter might have been able to save actress Natasha Richardson.
The province of Quebec lacks a medical helicopter system, common in the United States and other parts of Canada, to airlift stricken patients to major trauma centers. Montreal’s top head trauma doctor said Friday that may have played a role in Richardson’s death.
Richardson, 45, died Wednesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York after falling Monday on a ski slope at the Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec.
“It’s impossible for me to comment specifically about her case, but what I could say is … driving to Mont Tremblant from the city [Montreal] is a 2 1/2-hour trip, and the closest trauma center is in the city. Our system isn’t set up for traumas and doesn’t match what’s available in other Canadian cities, let alone in the States,” said Tarek Razek, director of trauma services for the McGill University Health Centre, which represents six of Montreal’s hospitals.
While Richardson’s initial refusal of medical treatment cost her two hours, she also had to be driven to two hospitals. She didn’t arrive at a specialized hospital in Montreal until about four hours after the second 911 call from her hotel room at the resort, according to a timeline published by Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper
Obviously, it’s hard to prove whether someone would have lived or died in this situation, but this observation by Doug Bandow rings true:
Because of the pervasiveness of both third party payment and government regulation, the American medical system spends more than it should. But it remains far more oriented towards meeting patient needs than does government-dominated health care. As policymakers debate various “reform” measures, they should keep Natasha Richardson’s tragic fate in mind.
Not to mention those Canadians who routinely spend weeks if not months on a waiting list for something as simple, and essential, as MRI.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
The US health care system isn’t oriented to the needs of the patient, it’s oriented to the needs of the insurance companies bottom line. If it was oriented to the patient then there wouldn’t be stories like Nataline Sarkisyan.
http://cbs2.com/local/nataline.sarkisyan.CIGNA.2.615167.html
March 24th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
And yet wait times for surgery and medical tests are far shorter in the United States than in Canada or Britain.
How do you explain that one ?
March 24th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Well when the insurance companies kill off half the patients there is plenty of time for others to get surgery.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
And I’m not suggesting that government run health care is really the answer, but as long as the system is beholden to insurance companies that are killing people so that they can save a few bucks, or dropping people from policies when they get sick, we will continue with the way things currently are.
Health care needs to be prevention oriented and needs be strictly between patient and doctor, with no third party in the middle saying what can and can’t be done.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
we are part of a support group for children/parents born with a rare birth defect that is often fatal. in the UK, i know of many parents who had to subsequently buy private supplemental insurance just to get the standard of care needed to keep their child alive.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
What evidence do you have for the first part of your statement ?
April 4th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Woman ignores advice to go to hospital. Does not get in ambulance that was called 45 min post accident. 3rs later when decompensates goes to hospital which DOES HAVE CT SCANNER (sure not all quebec hospitals have ct scanners but if the population of that town is only 1000 people is it really worth it, remember we have better population health outcomes for a lower cost). Sure no neuro surgeon but not EVERY rural hospital can have a neurosureon. Unclear if she got burr holes in the ER there (patient confidentiality has not released that info yet). Transferred 45 min by ground to Level 1 trauma center where I understand underwent surgery, bad bleeding leading on top of already significant brain edema from delayed presentation = bad outcome, transferred to USA so plug could be pulled with family at bedside. How is the Canada’s fault?
Sure Quebec does not have helicopters, have you seen their population density? Totally not reasonable for the $’s. Province is 594860 square miles. North to south the length is 1,971 kilometers (1,225 miles). From east to west it is about 1580 kilometers (982 miles). Similar dimensions in the USA as the crow flies is from the Canadian Quebec – USA Border to the tip of Flordia and from NYC to the other end of Illinois. Canada is flipping HUGE. We’re 300,000 sq mi bigger than the USA but have 1/10th the population. That’s alot of sq miles to cover with regards to healthcare. While Quebec does not have helicopters they do have fixed wing air ambulances though.
Sorry, problem here was with the patient delaying her presentation to definitive management. Blame the pt, not the Canadian system.
I’m not saying we have the perfect system. Sure if you have money you will get better care in the US (at least from a wait time perspective anyways). BUT we spend less per capita on health care than the USA but have better infant mortality, a longer life expectancy and better cancer survival prognosis among other indicators of health. You might wait 2-3 years for your total hip but you need your cancer therapy you will get it pronto and you will not go bankrupt because of it. Really the nightmare stories do happen but they happen everywhere and often have extra info that is not included (eg. woman who had to go to the USA for cancer therapy and is out 60k but they don’t mention she had stage 4 Ovarian CA, deemed palliative and went to the USA for unproven, experimental therapy).
Just my 2 cents.