Joe Willie On The Shrimpbox: A Physician's View of the health Care Problem

A young Physicians view of the health care problem

Physician Dr.. Starner Jones’s short two-paragraph letter to the White House
Accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care
Crisis".. It's worth a quick read:

Dear Mr. President:

During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the
pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive
shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of
elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of
tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with
a popular R&B ringtone.

While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice
that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my
examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than
one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to
buy pretzels and beer.

And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's
health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not
the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses.
Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in
which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices
while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase
health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo
that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always
take care of me".

Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards
irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our
nation's health care difficulties will disappear.


Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD