At the end of this post I am including an article in it's entirety simply because I was shocked by it's content but before you read it I'd like to ask you a question: "What do you think is the leading cause of death and injury in the US each year? Cancer? Heart Disease?…. Nope! The American Medical system! And I'm not talking about people who do not have access to health care. I'm talking about deaths directly caused by physicians. Admin's Note: Readers, please note that the article BlueForest references at the beginning of this paragraph has been removed from the end of this post. That decision has nothing to do with its content, but rather is due to KA's statement in its Rights and Responsibilities regarding fair use and copyright law. A link to the article in question IS included at the end of this article. --WolverineFan [Brad]
Dr. Lucian L. Leape from the Harvard School of Public Health http://www.investigatorawards.org/investigators/default.asp?l=3&i=462
believes ONE (this is not a blanket statement) of the reasons for MANY (not all) of these iatrogenic deaths is the problem of substance abuse among physicians. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37396390/ns/...l/#.TzsC4UxWrmJ
Since the mid-90's he's been advocating for mandatory drug testing among doctors the way pilots or air traffic controllers are subjected to these tests but doctors have so far refused for some of the reasons mentioned in the following article:http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/08/physicians-undergo-random-drug-testing.html
There are so many things wrong with this doctor's reasoning, I don't even know where to begin. "Ok, I get it. Impaired physicians are bad. We don’t want strung out cokeheads and stumbling alcoholics roaming the halls of our hospitals."?!?!
As a physician he should know cocaine is not the problem and doctors are never "stumbling alcoholics". They are highly functioning alcoholics. Yes! There is such a thing. http://alcoholism.about.com/od/problem/a/functional.htm
So… "What if a doctor is called to give a urine sample a week after he or she has smoked pot?"….. What are we going to do with a doctor whose blood alcohol is 0.09 (enough to get you a DUI)?
How can a doctor say such things when you can read for yourselves in the following citation: Database: PsycINFOSocial drinking, memory and information processing. Nicotine, caffeine and social drinking: Behaviour and brain function.
Nichols, Jennifer M.;Martin, FranceNicotine, caffeine and social drinking: Behaviour and brain function.(pp. 315-330)Amsterdam, Netherlands: Harwood Academic PublishersSnel, Jan (Ed); Lorist, Monicque M. (Ed), (1998). xi, 473 pp.Abstract
This chapter provides a review of the evidence suggesting that social drinking of alcohol may exert a toxic effect on brain functioning, such that memory processes and information processing abilities are impaired.
A number of theories which relate to social drinking or posit a neurotoxic effect of alcohol are reviewed and consideration is given to a continuum of impairment such that social drinking occupies a place low on the continuum of alcohol related brain damage. When alcohol is consumed at levels which are regarded as socially acceptable, especially when large amounts of alcohol are consumed in one sitting, recent research indicates that impaired information processing and memory deficits may result.
(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
Am I saying ALL doctors are alcoholics? NO!
Am I saying ALL doctors are unreliable? NO!
I am saying: “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
Ralph Waldo EmersonNote: The link below is to an article called "The American Medical System Is the Leading Cause of Death and Injury in the United States." BlueForest had originally included the entire article in this post, but per the KA Rights and Responsibilities, we do not permit the reprinting of entire articles due to copyright restrictions. If you would like to read the article, simply follow the link. --Wolverinefan [Brad]http://www.ourcivilisation.com/medicine/usamed.htm