What is Wrong with This Government?

I have had it up to here (hand held well above my 5ft-4in frame) with our government. Yes I am a citizen. Yes I do vote. Yes I do advocate in grassroots efforts and stay in contact with my federal and state representatives in congress.

Today I received an annoying letter in the mail from my doctor. It is not my doctor’s fault. He is one of the sweetest, most knowledgeable men I know who genuinely cares for all his patients and does what he can to ease suffering. This man is one that not only treats the disease, he treats the person. The letter today was a notice about a change in FDA policy regarding certain medications. The FDA, whose salaries we pay, now has determined to treat us like children and basically have told our physicians they are not intelligent enough or knowledgeable enough to write our prescriptions. They have taken control out of the hands of the ones who have the medical degrees, medical licenses, and professional medical experience. This is wrong. Now, in order for a person to get specific medications each patient has to go to the doctor’s office each and every month to pick up the prescription! This takes precious time away from patients who desperately need to see their doctor. It isn’t enough that many people have a difficult enough time paying to see their doctor as it is. The government has pushed their boot a little harder into our necks. Soon we are going to break. This ridiculous requirement is going to cost lives. Unfortunately, the lives it will affect most are those who can afford it the least – the elderly, the chronically ill, and the terminally ill. Already physicians have to limit their time spent with patients in order to get to the next. This will leave even less time available. We are slowly becoming numbers instead of names. Orwell's 1984 is a typo. It's is actually happening now.

While I am not one to harp on my own illnesses, I will mention here that I suffer from systemic lupus erythemosus, degenerative joint disease, ulnar neuropathy, and am legally blind from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative genetic eye disease. None of these illnesses have a cure, not even the eye disease. Life is difficult and as the diseases worsen, I learn to live with the symptoms as best I can. My days go from bad to worse sometimes but I keep plugging along just as many others in the same situation. For someone like me, this new law hurts twofold. One, it is difficult enough to pay for the doctor visits but it is even more difficult to get transportation. I live in “Mayberry Incarnate” and unfortunately there is no public transportation here so I have to rely on the kindness of friends and family to get me to and from the doctor. The pharmacy I use delivers my medication even though my home is located outside of their delivery area but it eases one burden and I am grateful for their kindness. My heart shudders when I think of how I would get my medication if it were not for them. Many of the medications I take are on the list of medicines included in the letter requiring a trip to the office to get each and every prescription every month. The pain, fatigue, and depression of living like this is difficult enough. Why add insult to injury?

The medical care in this country is unbelievable. What annoys me most is how so many people sit around with their thumbs up their butts with a stupid look on their faces when they can’t seem to understand what problems the health care industry has. Well, for starters, it is too damned expensive. Everything from medical care to hospitalization to medication is too damned expensive. It is time citizens run lobbyists for the pharmaceutical companies out on a rail. This pay off to rob our citizens of their hard-earned money has to stop. Statistics show that drugs in the United States are anywhere from 50% to 300% higher than drugs in other countries even when manufactured by the exact same companies that supply drugs to our country. What is wrong with this picture? Several years ago, I did some research on a drug called Depo-Provera. It is a birth control injection medication that is given every 13 weeks to prevent pregnancy. This drug cost $69 here in the United States. It was only $14.50 abroad. A personal source in the dental business told me that dentures - yes the false teeth - are marked up by dentists over 3000%! A $5000 pair of dentures only cost around $20 to actually make. What is wrong here? Granted there is nothing wrong with making money or even making lots of money but honestly folks, who cannot live and live comfortably on a couple million dollars a year? The rest of the country does quite well living on $40,000 to $50,000 a year. What makes the CEOs of these companies so damned special? Why are our congressmen allowed to vote on their personal salary raises? Why don’t we the people vote to decide if they need a salary increase? I know why. It’s because they know damned well they wouldn’t get a raise because they have done nothing to deserve one. In the beginning, government officials who were voted into office did not receive a salary. The salary is what makes them forget that they work for us, not the lobbyists or the pharmaceuticals or big business. It is time they realize we are the people, not big business. We are who pays the bulk of this country’s bills. The shrub-man needs to remember exactly who it is funding his little war game too. That money alone could pay for national health care.

The reason medical is so expensive in this country is mainly due to people having to choose between housing, food, and maintenance medication that literally is the difference between life and death for many. In the years I spent working as a medical transcriptionist, I discovered that many people, elderly and disabled mostly, end up in the emergency room because they cannot afford the medication that keeps them alive. They go so long without taking their medication because what little money they get has to go on food and a place to live. Once the hospitals get their medication back to the correct levels, they go home to start the process all over again. Furthermore, many days of work and school are lost each and every year because people cannot afford to go to the doctor and get the necessary medication. A national healthcare plan would reduce hospital stays and reduce emergency room visits. People would lose less work because they are able to see a doctor and with maintenance programs, childhood illness would not be as bad because early treatment is the key.

Many say that we live in a country with the best technologically advanced health care system in the world. Well I say what good is having all this medical technology and advancement when less than 1% of the population can afford it. It is like having food all around a starving man but the food is locked up behind bars simply out of reach. I would much rather have less advanced care and treat more people than have the best care and treat less than 1% of the population. Charity begins at home and

It is high time the United States gets its nose out of everyone else’s business. We need to clean up our own backyard before heading in to clean up those of others. Iraq is a prime example of the United States being where it has no business. The Iraqi people, contrary to the lies the administration of shrub says, do not want our help, our torture, or our religion. Leave them alone. How would “we the people” like it if another country with entirely different beliefs decided we needed saving? The invasion of Iraq was wrong. It was done without provocation. Shrubman are you listening? Saddam Hussein did NOT attack the United States. It was Osama Bin Laden! The money poured into terrorizing the Iraqi people would be better spent on healthcare here in the United States. I’m sure the Iraqis would appreciate it too. I know I would.

Stepping off the Soapbox....

Don't blame me, I voted for Kerry!