Another View on the Swine Flu from Ron Paul
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Tuesday, May 5, 2009 |
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Congressman
Ron Paul from Texas recently voiced his opinion of the swine flu scare.
You can go to http://www.house.gov/paul to read and hear more.
Paul made the following comments in a recent blog:
"This
week, concerns about swine flu have dominated the media and many
government officials. While the American people should be made aware of
infectious diseases and common sense preventative measures, much of the
hysterical reaction from government only serves to remind us how
detrimental to your health it can be when government plays doctor.
As
a physician, I have yet to see any evidence that justifies the current
level of alarm. Influenza typically kills around 36,000 people every
year in this country and hospitalizes a couple hundred thousand. So far
there are only a handful of confirmed deaths attributable to this
strain, and most of those sickened have or will fully recover. Every
death is tragic, but I see no reason to deal with this flu outbreak any
differently than we typically deal with any other flu season. Instead,
government in its infinite wisdom is performing even more invasive
screening at airports, closing down schools and sporting events, and
causing general panic.
We had a similar outbreak in 1976, with
only 1 death from the flu, but mandatory vaccinations killed at least
25 before the program was abandoned.
When government gets
involved in healthcare decisions, the cure is so often worse than the
illness. And yet, this administration will likely consolidate the
government's power over your health with sweeping new reforms that are
already being discussed in the Senate.
Government has not
improved healthcare, and has not made it cheaper. Quite the opposite;
costs have skyrocketed, and quality has gone down in many ways. Gone
are the days of the country doctor making house calls, or of
voluntarily giving away medical services at charity hospitals. The
bureaucratization of healthcare these past 45 years has made things
worse. It saddens me as a doctor that physicians are less and less
accountable to patients, but more and more accountable to government
red tape, insurance companies and attorneys. It seems so perverse to me
that important medical decisions that will directly affect the lives of
all or nearly all Americans are being hashed out behind closed doors in
Washington rather than between doctors and patients.
There is
perhaps nothing more valuable to a human being than his or her health,
which is why I've always considered the practice of medicine so crucial
to our well-being. Any intrusion by government into the privacy and
trust between doctor and patient is detrimental to the art of medicine.
It distorts the whole dynamic of who the client really is when doctors
must answer more to government or insurance companies than to their
patients. The best solutions to improving quality and lowering costs of
healthcare would be measures that put decisions back into the hands of
patients and doctors, where they rightfully belong. I have introduced
HR 1495 The Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Act, which promotes health
savings accounts and tax deductibility of healthcare costs as an
important step in this direction.
The unfortunate reality of
this recent health crisis, as with any crisis, is that it presents
opportunities that the unscrupulous will take advantage of, while the
fearful become more compliant."
Link: http://www.house.gov/paul/
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