Monday, November 26, 2012

two simple arguments for universal healthcare

#1)  a study came out recently about married people and happiness.  the researchers asked the participants who was happier, the subject or their spouses.  the interesting answer:  neither.  it turns out most couples' happiness is closely tied to the happiness (or unhappiness) of their spouse.  marriages have a collective happiness of sorts.  how does this relate to healthcare?  i believe we, as a society, have a collective health; the health of each individual has an effect on the health of all.  when we address the health needs of all our society members, our collective health will rise.  we will all benefit.

#2)  it is the right thing to do.  forget about whether it is constitutional or not, whether it is a privilege or a right, it is simply right. that is all we should need to move forward.

with that out of the way, we can move on to a single-payer system!


Thursday, November 1, 2012

my computer has a twisted sense of humor

yesterday, i sent a script electronically for amoxicillin for a patient with strep throat.  a few hours later a got a call from the pharmacist because the script he received was for hemorrhoid cream, not amoxicillin as intended (i am not making this up!).  i have no idea how that happened but at least it was an obvious error.  a more subtle one may have gone unnoticed and that is scary to think about. okay, now this post isn't funny anymore.