Sorry to hear Auggie Doggy wasn't feeling well, but happy she is doing better!
I wish we took a bit more of a holistic approach to health and medicine. It seems like we have become a world of extremes sometimes... It is incredible what the body is capable of when given the right materials. Though some situations may require more aggressive/drastic considerations.
I agree, a more holistic approach would serve us well when it comes to our health, but alas, there's no money in it! Convince someone that they would feel better if they ate more natural and unprocessed foods and no one at all gets rich. But convince them that they would feel better if they started taking some pill or shot that costs around a thousand bucks a month, and at scale, lots and lots of people stand to get rich.
I hope that this essay didn't come across as a complete indictment of modern medicine. Indeed, I'm a firm believer in it. A firm believer that it can do wonders fixing us up when we have acute problems. Chronic problems though? I don't think it does much good at all with those.
Not in the slightest! I think a balanced approach to most things in life would serve most of us well. It reminds me of a couple quotes to be considered in The Kybalion, "All things in balance", or perhaps, "Beware the extremes."
Taking it a step further, perhaps, beware making the extreme choice the first choice.
I think you've probably heard the story of the time Clayton and I were on the roof of the Masonic building, working on the roof. Hopping off a ladder, my knee gave out. It actually went in completely the wrong direction. I was driven to a friend's office who is a chiropractor. He Xrayed it, then jerked it back into place. Let me tell ya, that hurt! Then he braced the thing. Maybe after a month or two, it was better. Sometime after that, the same thing happened to the knee of a friend of mine. He opted for surgery. Eventually he got better, but it took an extremely long time. In a situation like that, I'd do the surgery. But not until I tried all the non-invasive stuff first.
I don’t trust the modern medical system, and I’m comfortable saying that out loud. That distrust didn’t come from politics or theory. It came from watching how medicine actually works when you are inside it.
COVID made the incentives impossible to ignore. Insurance companies dictate care through reimbursement. Pharmaceutical companies shape treatment paths. Doctors, even well intentioned ones, are often boxed into protocols that prioritize liability and billing over judgment and common sense. The system rewards compliance, not outcomes.
Because of that, I pay cash whenever I can. I ask for prices up front. If a provider will not tell me what something costs before doing it, I walk away. You would be surprised how often that happens, and how uncomfortable people get when you ask.
My father died alone in a hospital during COVID. We were not allowed to see him. My mother had just recovered from the virus and still was not permitted in the room. He was kept on a heavy sedative for nearly two weeks, one intended for short term surgical use, not long term sedation. We begged the doctors to take him off it and let us be there to keep him calm. They refused. His kidneys failed. His liver shut down. All the while we were spoken to as if we were ignorant and in the way.
That experience settled something for me. I would rather die at home, in pain if necessary, than be isolated in a hospital room and handed over to a rigid protocol designed by a system that answers to insurers, lawyers, and drug companies before it answers to families.
I grew up on a farm. We treated our livestock ourselves. Many of the medicines we used were once readily available. Over time, access was locked behind licenses and signatures, and prices exploded. Now I see insurance creeping into veterinary care, and I already know where that road leads. Higher costs, less access, and more control by people who never touch the animal.
This is where I land. Never blindly trust a system you know is captured. Authority does not equal wisdom, and protocol does not equal care. Trust has to be earned, not enforced..
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(Inserted because the browser cuts off my message.
I am sorry to read that your father passed away in such a horrible way. Please accept my sincere condolences.
I hope that our society learned enough from our collective experiences during the pandemic to never again fall into such a mass delusional panic. But, I can't be sure of it. Here in Washington liquor stores and marijuana stores were deemed essential and stayed open, but Churches were ordered to be closed. In my mind, that points to a really fundamental misunderstanding between those things that are of the good and bad in our society. It also points to a profound collective ignorance of the fundamental rights of man.
When thinking of our healthcare system in general, I do think that it is corrupted by money. Trillions of dollars flowing through insurance, trillions of dollars flowing through pharmaceutical companies, we know that the flow of so much money inevitably leads to corruption.
And honestly, I think that the average doctor is completely stuck. He or she likely left medical school with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, and as you rightly point out, then enters a system where all of the billing is completely dependent upon insurance company policies and practices.
It's not good, and something must be done.
I learned recently that one of my Brother-In-Laws dropped his health insurance. Given that he's about my age, I have to figure it possible that he could face a bankrupting medical problem. As I understand it, he dropped his coverage because he could no longer afford it.
Yesterday, I decided to take a look at what insurance might be available for him. The lowest possible cost policy available here in Washington State listed on our health insurance exchange was over 700 dollars per month, ranging upwards to over 1500 dollars per month. Simply unaffordable for a huge swath of people.
Every thing good or bad is operated on incentives. Vet's like your first mentioned vet may have been incentivized to make that diagnosis and you are unaware of the incentives. Which brings me back to "Authority does not equal wisdom, and protocol does not equal care."
My fear is that the incentive structure that ruined our healthcare system is leaking in to veterinarian practice.
I think what you're saying could well be right. As you point out, Health Insurance is growing more and more common for pets, which will of course drive costs and expand bureaucracy.
I was unaware though, until you mentioned it, that veterinary medicines are increasingly falling under controls. As a kid, on my mother's side of the family, all of the vet work was performed by vets. But, on my father's side of the family, my uncle handled handled almost all of that work. I've been away from the farm for so long now that I didn't know that this has been changing.
This may be state specific, I’m not sure. When I was younger, we handled a lot of basic veterinary care ourselves. If a cow or horse needed antibiotics, pain meds, stitches, or vaccines, we kept those supplies on hand and took care of it. That was normal, responsible livestock ownership.
Now almost all of that is locked behind licensure. Instead of a seventy-five dollar bottle of medicine, it’s a call to a vet and a bill that can easily run two thousand dollars or more. At that point it stops being about what the animal needs and becomes a cost decision about whether you can afford to treat it at all.
Most folks don’t neglect their animals, but they do start trying workarounds, delaying care, or using less effective alternatives because the proper option is priced out of reach. Even getting something as basic as syringes has become difficult unless you’re going through a medical program, which makes no sense for people who legitimately work with livestock every day.
I understand the intent behind regulation, but the end result is fewer animals getting timely care and more people forced into bad choices. That’s not a good outcome for anyone. Its ironic to this farmer to see syringes laying on the street in Seattle. Yet those of need them, have to jump through hoops.
The FDA implemented Guidance for Industry #263 (GFI #263), which requires that all "medically important" antibiotics for livestock (and pets) be moved from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription (Rx) status in 2023.
>>>Its ironic to this farmer to see syringes laying on the street in >>>Seattle. Yet those of need them, have to jump through hoops.
And here the addict doesn't even have to buy those syringes. They are handed out to everyone, at government expense. Even in my little city located in a very rural and presumably conservative part of the State. Then government types wring their hands in wonder at the ever growing addict homeless population.
For most of my life, and in my opinion, Seattle was a truly beautiful city. And, from a distance it still is. But, city leaders have allowed downtown to become an open cesspool. My family used to really enjoy going downtown for a wonderful dinner from time to time. The last time we went, some years ago, the restaurant was so surrounded by addicts that I wondered if we would make it to our car alive.
Same damn thing happened with my dog a few years ago. I took her to the vet and was told she had kidney stones that required immediate surgery, when I told them I wanted a day to think about it they amped up the fear factor tenfold in order to get me to authorize immediate surgery, said that she could die if I waited a day. I took her home and did end up having the surgery done, cost 2 grand, and figured that was it for the kidney stones. A year later the same symptoms cropped up but this time I took her to a different vet, they diagnosed her with kidney stones but instead of surgery I was sent home with a bag of dog food designed to break down the stones, cost me 100 bucks rather than 2 grand. I often think about that first vet and how they performed completely unnecessary surgery on my dog, what a pack of fucking ghouls they are, just pissed that I didn't listen to my intuition telling me something was wrong with how they were using fear to upsell me.
Sorry to hear Auggie Doggy wasn't feeling well, but happy she is doing better!
I wish we took a bit more of a holistic approach to health and medicine. It seems like we have become a world of extremes sometimes... It is incredible what the body is capable of when given the right materials. Though some situations may require more aggressive/drastic considerations.
Thanks! She's completely back to normal now.
I agree, a more holistic approach would serve us well when it comes to our health, but alas, there's no money in it! Convince someone that they would feel better if they ate more natural and unprocessed foods and no one at all gets rich. But convince them that they would feel better if they started taking some pill or shot that costs around a thousand bucks a month, and at scale, lots and lots of people stand to get rich.
I hope that this essay didn't come across as a complete indictment of modern medicine. Indeed, I'm a firm believer in it. A firm believer that it can do wonders fixing us up when we have acute problems. Chronic problems though? I don't think it does much good at all with those.
Not in the slightest! I think a balanced approach to most things in life would serve most of us well. It reminds me of a couple quotes to be considered in The Kybalion, "All things in balance", or perhaps, "Beware the extremes."
Taking it a step further, perhaps, beware making the extreme choice the first choice.
I think you've probably heard the story of the time Clayton and I were on the roof of the Masonic building, working on the roof. Hopping off a ladder, my knee gave out. It actually went in completely the wrong direction. I was driven to a friend's office who is a chiropractor. He Xrayed it, then jerked it back into place. Let me tell ya, that hurt! Then he braced the thing. Maybe after a month or two, it was better. Sometime after that, the same thing happened to the knee of a friend of mine. He opted for surgery. Eventually he got better, but it took an extremely long time. In a situation like that, I'd do the surgery. But not until I tried all the non-invasive stuff first.
I don't blame you here. I had a surgery on my ankle that has been a source of perpetual frustration and at times seems worse than the original injury.
I don’t trust the modern medical system, and I’m comfortable saying that out loud. That distrust didn’t come from politics or theory. It came from watching how medicine actually works when you are inside it.
COVID made the incentives impossible to ignore. Insurance companies dictate care through reimbursement. Pharmaceutical companies shape treatment paths. Doctors, even well intentioned ones, are often boxed into protocols that prioritize liability and billing over judgment and common sense. The system rewards compliance, not outcomes.
Because of that, I pay cash whenever I can. I ask for prices up front. If a provider will not tell me what something costs before doing it, I walk away. You would be surprised how often that happens, and how uncomfortable people get when you ask.
My father died alone in a hospital during COVID. We were not allowed to see him. My mother had just recovered from the virus and still was not permitted in the room. He was kept on a heavy sedative for nearly two weeks, one intended for short term surgical use, not long term sedation. We begged the doctors to take him off it and let us be there to keep him calm. They refused. His kidneys failed. His liver shut down. All the while we were spoken to as if we were ignorant and in the way.
That experience settled something for me. I would rather die at home, in pain if necessary, than be isolated in a hospital room and handed over to a rigid protocol designed by a system that answers to insurers, lawyers, and drug companies before it answers to families.
I grew up on a farm. We treated our livestock ourselves. Many of the medicines we used were once readily available. Over time, access was locked behind licenses and signatures, and prices exploded. Now I see insurance creeping into veterinary care, and I already know where that road leads. Higher costs, less access, and more control by people who never touch the animal.
This is where I land. Never blindly trust a system you know is captured. Authority does not equal wisdom, and protocol does not equal care. Trust has to be earned, not enforced..
...
...
(Inserted because the browser cuts off my message.
I am sorry to read that your father passed away in such a horrible way. Please accept my sincere condolences.
I hope that our society learned enough from our collective experiences during the pandemic to never again fall into such a mass delusional panic. But, I can't be sure of it. Here in Washington liquor stores and marijuana stores were deemed essential and stayed open, but Churches were ordered to be closed. In my mind, that points to a really fundamental misunderstanding between those things that are of the good and bad in our society. It also points to a profound collective ignorance of the fundamental rights of man.
When thinking of our healthcare system in general, I do think that it is corrupted by money. Trillions of dollars flowing through insurance, trillions of dollars flowing through pharmaceutical companies, we know that the flow of so much money inevitably leads to corruption.
And honestly, I think that the average doctor is completely stuck. He or she likely left medical school with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, and as you rightly point out, then enters a system where all of the billing is completely dependent upon insurance company policies and practices.
It's not good, and something must be done.
I learned recently that one of my Brother-In-Laws dropped his health insurance. Given that he's about my age, I have to figure it possible that he could face a bankrupting medical problem. As I understand it, he dropped his coverage because he could no longer afford it.
Yesterday, I decided to take a look at what insurance might be available for him. The lowest possible cost policy available here in Washington State listed on our health insurance exchange was over 700 dollars per month, ranging upwards to over 1500 dollars per month. Simply unaffordable for a huge swath of people.
Every thing good or bad is operated on incentives. Vet's like your first mentioned vet may have been incentivized to make that diagnosis and you are unaware of the incentives. Which brings me back to "Authority does not equal wisdom, and protocol does not equal care."
My fear is that the incentive structure that ruined our healthcare system is leaking in to veterinarian practice.
I think what you're saying could well be right. As you point out, Health Insurance is growing more and more common for pets, which will of course drive costs and expand bureaucracy.
I was unaware though, until you mentioned it, that veterinary medicines are increasingly falling under controls. As a kid, on my mother's side of the family, all of the vet work was performed by vets. But, on my father's side of the family, my uncle handled handled almost all of that work. I've been away from the farm for so long now that I didn't know that this has been changing.
This may be state specific, I’m not sure. When I was younger, we handled a lot of basic veterinary care ourselves. If a cow or horse needed antibiotics, pain meds, stitches, or vaccines, we kept those supplies on hand and took care of it. That was normal, responsible livestock ownership.
Now almost all of that is locked behind licensure. Instead of a seventy-five dollar bottle of medicine, it’s a call to a vet and a bill that can easily run two thousand dollars or more. At that point it stops being about what the animal needs and becomes a cost decision about whether you can afford to treat it at all.
Most folks don’t neglect their animals, but they do start trying workarounds, delaying care, or using less effective alternatives because the proper option is priced out of reach. Even getting something as basic as syringes has become difficult unless you’re going through a medical program, which makes no sense for people who legitimately work with livestock every day.
I understand the intent behind regulation, but the end result is fewer animals getting timely care and more people forced into bad choices. That’s not a good outcome for anyone. Its ironic to this farmer to see syringes laying on the street in Seattle. Yet those of need them, have to jump through hoops.
The FDA implemented Guidance for Industry #263 (GFI #263), which requires that all "medically important" antibiotics for livestock (and pets) be moved from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription (Rx) status in 2023.
Now the cost of access is growing.
>>>Its ironic to this farmer to see syringes laying on the street in >>>Seattle. Yet those of need them, have to jump through hoops.
And here the addict doesn't even have to buy those syringes. They are handed out to everyone, at government expense. Even in my little city located in a very rural and presumably conservative part of the State. Then government types wring their hands in wonder at the ever growing addict homeless population.
For most of my life, and in my opinion, Seattle was a truly beautiful city. And, from a distance it still is. But, city leaders have allowed downtown to become an open cesspool. My family used to really enjoy going downtown for a wonderful dinner from time to time. The last time we went, some years ago, the restaurant was so surrounded by addicts that I wondered if we would make it to our car alive.
Same damn thing happened with my dog a few years ago. I took her to the vet and was told she had kidney stones that required immediate surgery, when I told them I wanted a day to think about it they amped up the fear factor tenfold in order to get me to authorize immediate surgery, said that she could die if I waited a day. I took her home and did end up having the surgery done, cost 2 grand, and figured that was it for the kidney stones. A year later the same symptoms cropped up but this time I took her to a different vet, they diagnosed her with kidney stones but instead of surgery I was sent home with a bag of dog food designed to break down the stones, cost me 100 bucks rather than 2 grand. I often think about that first vet and how they performed completely unnecessary surgery on my dog, what a pack of fucking ghouls they are, just pissed that I didn't listen to my intuition telling me something was wrong with how they were using fear to upsell me.