The following was an email forwarded to me. (pardon the formatting errors)
Dear Mr. President:>> During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the> pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny> gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and> costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who> chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.>> While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that> her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the> patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes> every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.>> And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health> care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result> of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the> result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly> acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care> of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture> based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because> someone else will always take care of me".>> Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility> and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care> difficulties will disappear.>> Respectfully,>> STARNER JONES, MD>
It was not quite accurate but the original article was a letter to a local newspaper from a real ER doc. You can find it here:
http://spotlight.vitals.com/2009/10/dr-roger-starner-jones-muses-crisis-culture/Being an ER doc myself, I couldn't agree more. My colleagues and I have endless stories about people who think the world owes them while they do not take care of themselves. It's both sad and extremely frustrating at the same time.
