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Show There Is No Price Tag On Value Of Life In reply to Harriet Stevens' letter I can't help but agree that we are "very weary of taxes" and that medical costs must be contained. The latter was not directly mentioned and it is unfortunate that she singled out the Paramedics as her example so that "bread and milk" would be left. MEDICAL COST containment contain-ment is a subject only the healthy can discuss. Senator Kennedy did not feel the need to save by taking his son to a local hospital or the free care offered at the government hospital (Walter Reed), but flew to a specialized Cancer Institute with specialized cancer surgeons, internists, chemotherapists and radiotherapists at a tremendous tremen-dous cost. The sick - and you must be ill to appreciate this fact want the best doctors, the best hospitals, the best diagnostic diag-nostic equipment, the best drugs and all the unused, disposable (no deposit - no return) sterile materials that they need to combat their illnesses. ill-nesses. YES, IT IS we the public who demand this type of care. Anything less results in litigation li-tigation which has done much to increase the quality of medical care over the last decade, however, we have also al-so paid the price. In addition we have asked the government to step in and help guarantee that our care is the very best. This has resulted in better care but has also resulted in expensive regulation, bureaucracies and added cost, the extent of which has not even been estimated. es-timated. THESE ARE federal expenses ex-penses above and beyond those dealing with the inefficient inef-ficient government health facilities, or lack thereof, include smoking, alcohol abuse, drugs, obesity and lack of exercise; result in increased hospital admissions, admis-sions, increased stays and more costs. We refuse to accept death and continue existence on various machines and drugs that do little to extend a meaningful life for the majority, however, result jn an expensive medical miracle for the few who return to the good life. THERE IS no price tag on the value of our life. This, in essence, is what government must eventually determine, either directly or indirectly, in order to contain medical costs. Changes in the quality of our health care will also help keep expenses down. "Kill" the Paramedic program? This is probably the only program that is directly affecting the 3 to 35 age group where accident is the greatest killer. A spinoff of this program helps to reduce death from heart attack for the 40 to 65 age group where abnormal rhythms are apt to occur in the first few minutes. IN ADDITION, costs are directly reduced to us all by the proper treatment of patients pa-tients at the scene of an accident ac-cident by lowering the incidence in-cidence of shock, kidney failure, excessive blood loss, tissue damage during transport, trans-port, etc. This early care decreases the time and the complexity of final healing, not to mention the emotional relief of knowing that help is at hand. The answer of how to contain con-tain costs is complex and it involves limits, reduced expectations, ex-pectations, and longer lines. It involves fewer facilities, less beds, reusable equipment, equip-ment, hospital transfers away from home and reduced regulation to mention only a few. THE COST of medical care, like that of oil, will reduce as we learn to live in a more "compact car" society. Yes, killing the Paramedic Program would be a "small step for man" but will have little to do with the "giant step" needed for "mankind." Let's not take away the only thing that may be helping the youth of our society. Jan S. Freeman, M.D., F.A.C.S. Medical Director Davis County EMS Program |
