John Stossel on health care, incl. Cuba

[Guest guest]

John Stossel once reported that organic food was worse than conventionally raised food because organic farmers used manure for fertilizer and the chances of having e-coli in organic foods were very great.

 

It came out later, and Stossel admitted, that he'd been paid off to do that story.

 

Journalism in America is at a very low point in history. Rupert Murdoch has declared war on truth. Nearly everything produced has to be scrutinized today. See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.

[Guest guest]

johnstossel(John Stossel) A Note from

John Stossel Tue., September 11, 2007

 

Last week's piece featuring Cuba's health care system caused quite a

reaction. It was just a small snippet to introduce my special " Whose

Body Is It, Anyway? Sick in America, " which will air this Friday at 10

p.m. EDT. I'll send another e-mail Thursday with more about that.

 

The Cuban government reacted swiftly. The Central Committee met to

discuss the " case " and then called members of the ABC Cuban bureau in

for questioning. That's all I have until the ABC foreign desk tells us

more…

 

Here's a sampling of your thoughts on Cuban health care, and government

health care in general (the debate continues on my ABC message board:)

 

David M Dinn, CLU, ChFC, MSFS writes: Only Islamic terrorists scare me

more than national health care.

 

Janet Goman writes: Bravo on your healthcare reporting! I am looking

forward to your show on Friday night. I am originally Canadian, as is my

husband, and we both maintain family in Canada…As a user, I have

experienced the phone call from my Dad asking me to bring him home,

hospitalized at St. Mike's in downtown Toronto for a brain aneurysm

(already a Parkinson's patient) as they were closing the hospital over

Christmas to save money. We did not believe he was recovered enough for

us to take him but, there was no choice.

 

No review on socialized medicine is complete unless you include an

examination of the federal and provincial tax system (funding) and

corresponding income tax rates. Tax rates in Canada are some of the

highest in the world which means you pay for everyone's healthcare and

unlimited visits to the doctor.

Finally, check out the web site for the Frazer Institute, based in

British Columbia, as they have done some very valuable work on comparing

health care systems around the world: www.fraserinstitute.ca.

 

As a nation, we are so close to Canada geographically, I have often

wondered why our elected representatives do not simply visit Canada, and

talk to the professionals and the communities they serve in an effort to

find out how well, or not well, socialized medicine works. I would be

happy to guide Michael Moore on a reality check of socialized medicine.

 

Carlos M. Coro D.D.S. writes: I am an oral and maxillofacial surgeon

practicing in Miami, Florida. I cannot count the number of times that I

have been asked to send medicine to Cuba [like local anesthesia and

antibiotics], because the patients are told to bring these to the clinic

or hospital themselves. I have even treated government officials who

have traveled here to Miami to receive treatment. The only people who

get decent care are tourists with hard currency. The whole Cuban health

care system is in shambles.

 

Ricardo Martinez writes: As the son of a Cuban exile, it made me

incredibly happy to see you report the truth in Cuba. Do you know how

sickening it is to have family tell me of the terrible medical treatment

they receive and then to have Michael Moore spit out lies about the same

health care? It is a slap in the face to the millions of people who have

escaped the tyrannical system of the Castro brothers. I just wish you

had pointed out why so many people attempt to leave the country if the

health care is so " wonderful. "

 

I would like to share a story about my uncle who came to Miami for 6

months. When I asked him if it's true that there are doctors in every

neighborhood he told me yes that there were. But when I asked him what

they would do he told me all they did was take his blood pressure and

measure his pulse and give him a clean bill of health. Keep in mind my

uncle was about 65 years old when he came to Miami. He never had any

procedure that would be considered commonplace in America, such as

colonoscopy or to check for prostate health. A year after he went back

to Cuba he died in a real Cuban hospital because they had no bandages

and no medicines to treat the head wound he suffered as a carpenter.

 

Martin Eaton writes: You may be right about Cuba having a bad

socialized medicine program ran by there government but I didn't see you

mention Canada or Great Britain where their socialized medicine system

works great. And sounds like the Bush administration put you up to this

or something…

 

The fact still remains that our health care system is terrible here in

America and the only people that think its ok are the rich people making

a six figure income or higher like yourself that can afford their health

insurance. What about the millions of men, woman and CHILDREN that don't

have health care here in America because of the greedy health insurance

companies bribing Congress to pass laws in their favor, what about that,

John, do you think that's OK, oh ya, I just remembered [you're] rich so

this doesn't effect you, does it.

 

James Freeborn writes: I am a student at Montana State University. I

just watched your interview with Michael Moore on Cuban health care. I

think that Michael Moore is completely pathetic, and only starts these

debates to get more publicized in the media. I think that you should

challenge him to make a documentary on American obesity, and see how he

reacts to that.

 

Hani-J.-Sani writes: Throughout the years I have categorized daily

media news as predominantly a combination of frivolous and morbid

entertainment if not myopic ignorant entertainment. As a foreigner

(Cuban) who has experienced and seen how far things can stretch

politically, socially, and humanly, I suppose this conclusion arrives

much quicker. But what is more infuriating is when such supposedly

unintentional ignorance results in nothing more than deceiving

information, if not intentional propaganda…since the start of Cuba's

nightmare (something that would have been unbelievable in 1958) the

media has truly been despised by me.

 

Starting with the romantic Robin Hood-like stories on Castro by the New

York Times (who 'till this day continue), the omnipresent Che t-shirts

across every American mall…and continuing with the lefty Michael

Moores refuged in Hollywood, the trash is just too collective. Castro's

destruction of Cuba with lies, mass murder, mass stealing, and mass

slavery have truly gotten a very sweet sugar coat on the part of the

media. This billionaire communist, bloody slave-master egomaniac, and

master of propaganda, has in a big way been adorned as a celebrity, as a

gentleman, visited by many in Hollywood with hugs and laughs (of course,

they all return to the USA to continue their hedonistic and capitalistic

life styles)…I can go for pages, but in closing, when I saw your

report on the Cuban health care farce, I only had 2 words. THANK YOU.

 

Pedro Chavez writes: Thanks for showing the real Cuba, I hope we all my

heart that U.S.A. never gets socialized medicine, it don't work and will

never work, and by the way I don't have health insurance right now but I

rather have none that socialized medicine…

 

Jeanette Landa and Family: After seeing that segment I was moved to

tears because I thought that we Cubans were the only ones that cared

about the huge lies of the " outstanding " health care there…Can't wait

to see next week's segment on American health care and show the TRUTH…

 

Robert Rodriguez writes: Just last week I had a young lady from Mexico

visit my home here in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she's attending the

University of Puerto Rico, when she found out I was Cuban, she started

telling me of her ordeal on the island a couple of years ago, when she

decided to do an internship in Cuba.It started with a flight from Mexico

City on Cubana de Aviacion to Habana, where they were shown a film about

" The Cuban Health System " where the same hospital that Michael Moore was

so stupid to believe that that's the one Cubans go to, clean floors,

sheets imaculate white gowns, the latest in medical equipment, and so

forth.

Reality sunk in when she arrived in Habana…My guest was sent to

hospitals similar to the ones you showed on your program filled with

roaches, beds with no sheets cause you have to take your own,

dilapidated medical equipment, definitely not the hospital shown in Mr.

Moore's " Sicko. "

 

Brian writes: Your report about Michael Moore was a little biased. I'm

not defending him, but if you start questioning his objectivity in the

movie " Sicko, " what about your objectivity in having all these " Cuba

experts " on, most of whom (if not all) would consider themselves

anti-Castro? Were they objective in what they reported to you? Are they

independent analysts? If they were, you didn't identify any of them as

such. I hope your report with Mr. Moore next week is more objective than

the one last night was.

 

Emilie McAlevy writes: Be sure to include the woman from Canada who had

to make prior arrangements to fly to the U.S. to deliver her four kids

because Canada's glorious health system had no room for her to deliver

the quads anywhere in Canada.

 

Marjorie Stevens writes: If you are doing a story next week on

" socialized health care, " you may have already heard of the story that

is making headlines in Canada.

The story of Shona Holmes of Watertown, Ontario will make Michael Moore

sit up and take notice. 43-year-old Shona was told that she needed

immediate surgery to treat a brain tumour, or risk permanent blindness

and possibly death, but Ontario's government-run health care system

offered her only a waiting list. She would have died if she had not

finally gone to the U.S. for her surgery, which the Ontario government

will not pay. She is taking her case to the Supreme Court of Canada to

fight for reimbursement. After all, we pay HUGE taxes for such services,

and she obviously did not get what she was paying for.

 

There are some good things, that is true. We do not have to be

" approved " by an insurance agency, and families will not lose their

entire life savings or their house in order to pay for medical care.

However, as Shona's story points out, people can die waiting for

important surgery.

 

Jay Alvarado writes: It is the first time that a network has been

willing to show the other side. The Today Show was recently in Cuba and

all they showed were cigar rollers, dancers, and government officials.

We will be forever grateful to you and to ABC for showing what real

journalists should do: investigate and expose what they find.

 

As always, thanks for your feedback, John Stossel

[Guest guest]

In other words, Stoessel is full of manure?

 

 

oleander soup , ahzoov wrote:

>

> John Stossel once reported that organic food was worse than

conventionally

> raised food because organic farmers used manure for fertilizer and

the chances

> of having e-coli in organic foods were very great.

>

> It came out later, and Stossel admitted, that he'd been paid off to

do that

> story.

>

> Journalism in America is at a very low point in history. Rupert

Murdoch has

> declared war on truth. Nearly everything produced has to be

scrutinized

> today.

>

>

>

> ************************************** See what's new at

http://www.aol.com

>