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Calling all doctors

August 25, 2009 1:06 am

DR. Patrick Neustatter, in the latest installment of his consis- tently interesting 2nd Opinion column ["Time for serious talk, not horror stories, on health care"] in Sunday's Healthy Living section, defends the National Health System of his native Great Britain, which he recently visited, from what he calls the "distortions" of conservative opponents of President Obama's proposed health care overhaul. Among Dr. Neustatter's intriguing comments:

"I have seen plenty of patients here in the Fredericksburg area fighting to get treatment or tests authorized. I've seen old folks who can't afford their medicines. And I've seen patients who can't get the tests and treatments they need because they can't afford the insurance--or because they have some pre-existing condition [deterring insurance-company coverage]."

"My sense was that people [in the U.K.] were fairly satisfied with their single-payer, nationalized health care system. [In ] a 2007 survey of 80,000 patients by the Healthcare Commission, nine of out 10 patients rated their NHS treatment 'good' or 'excellent.'"

"Are we [in the U.S.] so influenced by the business entities--insurance and pharmaceutical companies, doctors, hospitals, etc.--and their need to make large profits that we will be held hostage to that?"

Readers likely wonder what other local physicians think about both the current U.S. health care system and Mr. Obama's plans to change it. While we understand that M.D.s are more comfortable writing prescriptions and case studies than letters to the editor, we still entreat the latter from the region's many smart, perceptive healers.

Hundreds of Greater Fredericksburg physicians daily fulfill their sacred oath to the great benefit of the suffering. Giving a "physical" to the current health care regime and proposed alternatives also serves that beneficent end.

Doctors, kindly send us your thoughts, continuing the conversation that Dr. Neustatter has usefully begun. Our e-mail address is letters@free lancestar.com; or write Letters to the Editor, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22407.