Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Real Lesson of the Sharon Stroke

Ariel Sharon’s stroke and ongoing recovery has shed light on an issue that affects the whole world. IS it peace in out time? A settlement of the Arab/Israeli bloodletting?

Nope.

The lesson is: healthcare in the world is kind of shitty.

I’m not blaming anyone here but I was struck by two things. One, Sharon was given blood thinners when he shouldn’t have been. The thinners only complicated a condition that likely contributed to his stroke.

The other thing is I heard the doctors at what I assume must be one of Israel’s finest hospitals declare that if the patient had been anyone else, they would have been allowed to die because a stroke like the one Sharon had was hopeless. Of course, now Sharon seems to be recovering.

I also saw a statistic recently that up to 100,000 people die each year in the United States from some sort of bad medical decision or action.

We’re all doomed.

No comments: