Another example of medical terrorism and the big lie, this time from the surgical contingent. The Chaoulli decision by the Supreme Court of Canada is misnamed. It should have been called the Doyle decision. Dr. Daniel Doyle, a cardiovascular surgeon, testified that patients waiting for a coronary bypass are “sitting on a bomb” and could “die at any moment”.
Where he got the figure of 0.45% per month mortality on the “waiting list” is a mystery. Mortality on the waiting list for elective coronary bypass is at most 1% per year, about the same as the general population of the same age group. He didn’t say and wasn’t asked about the mortality for a bypass operation, about 3%!
The judges seem to have been struck dumb by terror and lost their cool at hearing this. They forgot the old adage, “you don’t ask a barber if you need a haircut”. They didn’t even think to ask Dr. Doyle if surgery would actually prevent the rare deaths on the waiting list. As we know from the MASS-II trial mortality is the same for surgically and medically treated patients with stable coronary disease who, by definition, comprise the “waiting list”. So, a basic principal of Canadian medicare system, that all citizens should have equal access to disease care regardless of ability to pay, was instantly destroyed by the terrorist statements of a surgeon and irrational fear of death. Remind you of Ancient Egypt?
We look down on the Ancient Egyptians for their believe in the afterlife and the huge waste of resources that went into preparing for it. Are we really that much different? We might not believe in the afterlife but we put even more wasted resources into the futile attempt to live forever on Earth. The drug dealers and surgeons are only too happy to oblige.