# Rational use of thyroid function tests.



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9405894


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Of course, go figure -- that study shows it originated in Canada, a country with socialized medicine and long wait times for access to doctors and procedures.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

bigfoot said:


> Of course, go figure -- that study shows it originated in Canada, a country with socialized medicine and long wait times for access to doctors and procedures.


You are right about the wait times. I hear "chatter" from friends in Canada!


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

My partner lives in Canada. She's pretty happy with her health care and terrified of the possibility of having to deal with our system. Her mom who has diabetes, heart disease, and mental illness gets everything treated for free. Yes, she may have to wait sometimes, but not for anything urgent, and from what I have seen, wait times can be just as bad in the US.

She has 3 psychiatrists working with her to help her return to work. 3. family docs in the US pass anti-depressants out like candy because there aren't enough psychiatrists to properly evaluate people.

Plus, she stayed in a mental hospital this past year for over a month for "testing" to find out why her memory was not working well. That would never happen in the US. Most people who are suicidal have to wait in the ER for hours to days for a bed on a psychiatric unit in the US, even if they want to get admitted, and get discharged after 2 days, no better than they were before. Forget testing. It doesn't happen. And those are the people with insurance.

yeah, their hospitals may not look as pretty. No one plays the piano in the lobby next to the beautiful crystal fountain, but they do the job, and everyone gets care.

Insurance companies prioritize profits over people. After my thyroid surgery, I had to return to the hospital twice in 12 hours. It's pretty clear to me I should never have been discharged, that they should have kept me after the second ER visit, but I was sent home, hallucinating and unable to get myself out of bed. I am sure it was an insurance call. Every time I see my doc cringe over ordering lab work, I wonder if its because of my insurance company and the fact that they pay $5 for a lab the hospital bills them $100 for because of the "contracted rate."

When I worked in a homeless shelter last year, most of the clients had chronic untreated health problems. Some had good jobs until they got sick and couldn't function anymore. They had no way to get treatment without insurance, and medicaid is almost impossible to get, then try to find a doc who will take medicaid. And when a homeless person without insurance shows up in an ER, they give the minimal possible care before kicking them out. Clients with pneumonia would be sent away with a script for meds they couldn't afford to get filed. Homeless folks sent back to the streets with open skin infections an no way to keep them clean.

I'd be willing to wait for non-critical care to know that everyone was covered and treated the same, to know that people weren't being kicked out of the hospitals to die for lack of insurance, to put more money into everyone's care instead of a CEO's bank account.

I'm stepping down off my soapbox now.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

lavender said:


> My partner lives in Canada. She's pretty happy with her health care and terrified of the possibility of having to deal with our system. Her mom who has diabetes, heart disease, and mental illness gets everything treated for free. Yes, she may have to wait sometimes, but not for anything urgent, and from what I have seen, wait times can be just as bad in the US.
> 
> She has 3 psychiatrists working with her to help her return to work. 3. family docs in the US pass anti-depressants out like candy because there aren't enough psychiatrists to properly evaluate people.
> 
> ...


Yep; they get good care in Canada and if it is an emergency, nobody waits. Hands down!


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