Dying on a Wait List?
FactCheck.org
August 6, 2009
Perhaps the most emotional of the health care ads we’ve seen in recent months is the one featuring Canadian Shona Holmes, who warns of the dangers of a government-run health care system. Holmes tells viewers: "I survived a brain tumor. But if I’d relied on my government, I’d be dead. … As my brain tumor got worse, my government health care system told me I had to wait six months to see a specialist. In six months, I would have died.”
Dying on a Wait List?
August 6, 2009
Perhaps the most emotional of the health care ads we’ve seen in recent months is the one featuring Canadian Shona Holmes, who warns of the dangers of a government-run health care system. Holmes tells viewers: "I survived a brain tumor. But if I’d relied on my government, I’d be dead. … As my brain tumor got worse, my government health care system told me I had to wait six months to see a specialist. In six months, I would have died.”
We wrote about that ad last month, addressing the false claim in the spot that “Washington wants to bring Canadian-style health care to the U.S.” We mentioned that Holmes had told her personal story many times, including in testimony to Congress. She paid for surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona rather than wait several months to see specialists in Canada. But would Holmes’ condition have killed her had she not traveled to the U.S.?
(Continued here.)
August 6, 2009
Perhaps the most emotional of the health care ads we’ve seen in recent months is the one featuring Canadian Shona Holmes, who warns of the dangers of a government-run health care system. Holmes tells viewers: "I survived a brain tumor. But if I’d relied on my government, I’d be dead. … As my brain tumor got worse, my government health care system told me I had to wait six months to see a specialist. In six months, I would have died.”
Dying on a Wait List?
August 6, 2009
Perhaps the most emotional of the health care ads we’ve seen in recent months is the one featuring Canadian Shona Holmes, who warns of the dangers of a government-run health care system. Holmes tells viewers: "I survived a brain tumor. But if I’d relied on my government, I’d be dead. … As my brain tumor got worse, my government health care system told me I had to wait six months to see a specialist. In six months, I would have died.”
We wrote about that ad last month, addressing the false claim in the spot that “Washington wants to bring Canadian-style health care to the U.S.” We mentioned that Holmes had told her personal story many times, including in testimony to Congress. She paid for surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona rather than wait several months to see specialists in Canada. But would Holmes’ condition have killed her had she not traveled to the U.S.?
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
The key comment is in the August 9th UPDATE … if you read the original posting, you did not know that Mrs. Holmes is suing the Canadian government. She wants to the Ottawa government to reimburse her for the payments made to Mayo. She states that she was not paid by Patients United Now for appearing in the TV commercial, but her “expenses” are being covered. So with a $100,000 debt to Mayo, is that an incentive to become a spokesperson ? Her “expenses” are not defined. Her lawsuit is being supported by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a right-wing group that is funding a Constitutional Charter challenge to single tier Public Medicare in Ontario.
FactCheck also did not adequately present the timeline. Reading the Mayo story, it states that she flew to Arizona for a consultation and a battery of diagnostic tests. Dr. Naresh Patel, neurosurgeon, diagnosed Holmes as having a Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC). Within 10 days, Holmes returned to Canada with a confirmed diagnosis.
So, if Holmes knew that it was not a life-threatening brain tumor, when she made the decision to return to Arizona for the surgery as opposed to going to Ottawa, she made the decision to pay for her own surgery instead of opting for coverage through the Public Medicine program … even though she had stated that she was pleased with the doctors in Ottawa.
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