[bullseyebarb]

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

Some of us here have, over the weekend, been reading about an American-style cash payment for clinical teatment. In this instance, it involved an eminent oncologist paid money by a foreign government to offer a diagnosis which spiced up the true state of the patients condition. That patient was a Libyan national held in a Scottish jail and as a consequence he is now back in Libya. I'm sure you know to whom I am referring.

Personally, I prefer to see patient care the British way, which is according to need.The American way, is of course based on the profit to be gained by clinicians, insurance companies and now dodgy political regimes.

There's a lot going on here that we don't know about yet - since the Scottish government isn't releasing details. My understanding is that there were four specialists but only one of them was willing to support the claim that Megrahi had just weeks to live. As the person in question has not been named, we don't know if he or she was employed by the NHS, the Libyans or Megradi's legal team. Yep, it definitely smells fishy.

I prefer the American way prior to 1965 when patients paid doctors directly and filed their own insurance claims. A good system relies on an involved and well informed consumer. Once you take the consumer out of the loop problems can and do develop. By the way, there is nothing wrong with making a profit. Profits make possible reinvestment in new facilities and equipment, expanded services, more jobs and higher wages. It's a bad idea to exclude hospitals and doctors from that model. Free enterprise is more nimble and its competitive and innovative nature surpasses all other delivery systems.