The Observation Deck

Jim DeVito wrote:And Roy, How is it that it is only certain thing you complain about not being able to afford. Where are we getting the money for these two wars? There are poorly designed counters for that too.

http://www.costofwar.com/

You all keep saying that this way and that way (the WHO thing) is not a good measure of america's health care system. So how is the PM's choice some come here a better measure?

ryan costa wrote:most of us will never be very rich.
you are not making a strong case to most american voters.

Roy Pitchford wrote:

ryan costa wrote:most of us will never be very rich.
you are not making a strong case to most american voters.

With a negative attitude like that, I'm not surprised.

'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

By Tara Brautigam (CP) – 16 hours ago

An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.

He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.

Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.

His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.

He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.

Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.

"I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.

Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada.

"I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.

"(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."

Williams said his decision to go to the U.S. did not reflect any lack of faith in his own province's health care system.

"I have the utmost confidence in our own health care system in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are just over half a million people," he said.

"We do whatever we can to provide the best possible health care that we can in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian health care system has a great reputation, but this is a very specialized piece of surgery that had to be done and I went to somebody who's doing this three or four times a day, five, six days a week."

He quipped that he had "a heart of a 40-year-old, so that gives me 20 years new life," and said he intends to run in the next provincial election in 2011.

"I'm probably going to be around for a long time, hopefully, if God willing," he said.

"God forbid for the Canadian public I won't be around longer than ever."

Williams also said he paid for the treatment, but added he would seek any refunds he would be eligible for in Canada.

"If I'm entitled to any reimbursement from any Canadian health care system or any provincial health care system, then obviously I will apply for that as anybody else would," he said.

"But I wrote out the cheque myself and paid for it myself and to this point, I haven't even looked into the possibility of any reimbursement. I don't know what I'm entitled to, if anything, and if it's nothing, then so be it."

He is expected back at work in early March.

Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

ryan costa wrote:The rich go to Walt Disney World to Worship.

The rest of us have to be content to rent the videos and buy the licensed merchandise at Wal-Mart or a second hand store.

The Rich go where they want for whatever they want.

If there is anything the Canadian system proves it is that people of greater means still have access to more expensive healthcare. Therefore they still have all of primary advantage of whatever the hell you wanna call U.S. healthcare.

sometimes I wish there were paying members-only restrooms at the cleveland public library and tower city. on the off-chance the restrooms would not get so slummed up so early in the day. but the lawyers have never been able to make a law against being disgusting. Although I don't drool and spit and cuss and litter all over downtown, the people who do tend to be dressed more expensively than me and have better cell phones and more expensive jewelry. So, they could probably afford better restrooms.

Teddy Roosevelt, Progressive wrote:We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it's honorably obtained and well used. It's not even enough to say that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only as long as the gaining represents a benefit to the community.