Our spine doctor shared an extremely sad experience he's already had with the parts of already in place.
A few weeks ago he attended a meeting where they explained the new "protocol" that no doctor could send a patient immediately to the ER, that they had to send the patient to a specialist first, and then the specialist had to perform tests before sending the patient to the ER.
Our spine doctor raised his hand to object, saying that he'd sent 3 of his patients directly to the ER based on the symptoms they had when they arrived in his office, and it saved their lives. All 3 of them had stints put in at the ER, and would never have lived long enough to go home and have it done following their "protocol."
He was told that he ever did it again, that he'd be fined, lose his license, or both, and that the patients going to ER would not have insurance coverage for their expenses because they had not followed "protocol." Our spine doctor said that he told them that he'd never follow such a "protocol" if his patients' lives were in danger.
Fast forward to Sept. 9, 2013. On Monday morning his mother calls from out-of-state, saying that it feels like she has a pinched nerve in her neck and would like to come see him, but her husband thinks she should go see a doctor first before traveling. Our spine doctor said that he agreed with Dad, do what Dad said, and if the doctor couldn't fix it, then he and the siblings would pay for their flight tickets to see him.
Tuesday morning his mother was able to get in to see their regular doctor, and he said he couldn't fix the pinched nerve in her neck, and referred her immediately to a cardiologist that same day. The cardiologist ran one test, said he knew what was wrong, but the new "protocol" required him to run 2 more tests first before sending her to the ER, and scheduled her to come back on Thursday or Friday to have the 2 new tests. She agreed. Tuesday night she died.
They don't need the "death panels." The new "protocol" will take care of everything just fine for them.
ur spine doctor shared an extremely sad experience he's already had with the parts of place.
A few weeks ago he attended a meeting where they explained the new "protocol" that no doctor could send a patient immediately to the ER, that they had to send the patient to a specialist first, and then the specialist had to perform tests before sending the patient to the ER.
Our spine doctor raised his hand to object, saying that he'd sent 3 of his patients directly to the ER based on the symptoms they had when they arrived in his office, and it saved their lives. All 3 of them had stints put in at the ER, and would never have lived long enough to go home and have it done following their "protocol."
He was told that he ever did it again, that he'd be fined, lose his license, or both, and that the patients going to ER would not have insurance coverage for their expenses because they had not followed "protocol." Our spine doctor said that he told them that he'd never follow such a "protocol" if his patients' lives were in danger.
Fast forward to Sept. 9, 2013. On Monday morning his mother calls from out-of-state, saying that it feels like she has a pinched nerve in her neck and would like to come see him, but her husband thinks she should go see a doctor first before traveling. Our spine doctor said that he agreed with Dad, do what Dad said, and if the doctor couldn't fix it, then he and the siblings would pay for their flight tickets to see him.
Tuesday morning his mother was able to get in to see their regular doctor, and he said he couldn't fix the pinched nerve in her neck, and referred her immediately to a cardiologist that same day. The cardiologist ran one test, said he knew what was wrong, but the new "protocol" required him to run 2 more tests first before sending her to the ER, and scheduled her to come back on Thursday or Friday to have the 2 new tests. She agreed. Tuesday night she died.
They don't need the "death panels." The new "protocol" will take care of everything just fine for them.
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