Health care system needs to be fixed
To the editor:
I hear this argument all the time from opponents of health care reform and the public option: It's socialism, there will be death panels, you will have to wait for surgery or to be seen by a doctor, etc.
Well, I'm here to tell you that's exactly what we have now, except it's worse. Insurance companies are the death panels and they have an agenda. You and your employer pay them big bucks and they get to tell you what is covered and what is not. Insurance companies dictate whether a test that could save your life is medically necessary or not. Or your insurance company tells you if you can even BUY health or life insurance.
And the best doctors in the world in Boston hospitals are booked out months in advance, so no matter how sick you are, you have to wait until they have an opening even to see you. Even local doctors are booked months in advance. Scheduling a surgery takes even longer.
This is what my husband and I are going through. He has been to many specialists — four of each of the best specialists Boston's best hospitals have to offer and none of them have been able to help him. We are paying big bucks ($160/week, plus deductibles and copays) to have lousy insurance and a lot of out-of-pocket expenses, but the worst part is that after three years, my husband is dizzy every day.
They gave him alpha and beta blockers for the symptoms that don't work, and they gave him a pacemaker to keep him alive but he has been living with being dizzy because the doctors are not curious enough to actually find out what's wrong with him and do the follow-up work. I have been fighting with them since July 2006 to stop treating the symptoms and cure him. In fact, he had to be brought into the ER flatlining before any one would listen to me and give him an EKG while he was having an episode two years ago.
Our past year has been spent waiting for doctors' appointments, which are spread out by two and three months each. Doctors are on piecework and just want to get you in and out as quickly as possible. They don't even know you. Finally, this year after begging various neurologists for three years, we found one who is finally talking about monitoring him in the hospital with an EEG to find out what is causing the dizziness. I have been begging them to do this for three years and they are finally going to do what I asked them to do. I am the one recommending tests! I'm not a doctor, but I seem to know better than they do. That is scary.
So now we still have to wait for appointments with primary care, neurologists and cardiologist before they will set it up the test with the epilepsy specialist and the hospital and each appointment is spread out by at least a month or two.
He will be lucky to actually get this done this year and in the meantime, he is dizzy all the time.
If this is what some of you consider the best health care in the world and this is the best we can do, then I say we are in big trouble. When they tell me we are 37th in world when it comes to health care, I believe it because I am living it.
Deanne Guardino
Salem, N.H.
Verizon service headed for Haverhill
To the editor:
Please allow me to respond to a two issues raised a story published in the Nov. 19 edition of The Eagle-Tribune.
First, City Councilor William Ryan's claim that Verizon and Comcast have a no-compete agreement is baseless, reckless, and irresponsible. Even the briefest review of Verizon's FiOS deployment will show that the company competes with Comcast and many other cable TV providers in 104 cities and towns in Massachusetts, as well as hundreds more in 13 other states.
Second, as we have explained to Haverhill officials, we are currently focused on completing the construction of the FiOS TV network in those cities and towns where we currently have a franchise agreement before expanding into any new communities. We hope to be able to bring FiOS TV to Haverhill and additional communities in the future.
Stanley J. Usovicz
Regional Director of External Affairs
Verizon
Enjoy a turkey-free Thanksgiving
To the editor:
Last week, a failed vice-presidential candidate claimed that animals belong right next to the mashed potatoes. This week, our president is pardoning two turkeys. It's food for thought.
Each of us has the power to pardon a turkey this Thanksgiving. It shows our compassion for an innocent animal, as well as our concern for our family's and our planet's health. It's a most fitting way to give thanks for our own life, health, and happiness.
The 270 million turkeys abused and slaughtered in the U.S. each year have nothing to give thanks for. They breathe toxic fumes in crowded sheds. Their beaks and toes are severed. At the slaughter-house, workers cut their throats, and dump them into boiling water, sometimes while still conscious.
Consumers too pay a heavy price. Turkey flesh is laced with cholesterol and saturated fats that elevate the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Careful adherence to government warning labels is required to avoid food poisoning. Turkey excrements pollute our water supplies.
This Thanksgiving, I will be joining millions of other Americans in observing this joyful family holiday with nonviolent healthful products of the earth's bounty: vegetables, fruits, and grains.
A visit to my local supermarket or health food store and an internet search on vegan Thanksgiving will provide me more recipes and delicious turkey alternatives than I can possibly use.
Benny DiDonna
Lawrence
