PrintMarch 21, 2009
Was Natasha Richardson a victim of government health care?
Maybe the American medical system isn't so bad after all.
President Obama and his supporters bemoan the American medical system with little or no understanding of the excellence that stands to be lost if we follow their guidance and institute a national healthcare system. It is easy to notice the number of uninsured (who will be treated in an emergency room, regardless of ability to pay), and much easier yet to overlook the things we will lose when the state provides medical care.
In Quebec, just across the border from Obama's Northeast stronghold, AP reports the British actress Natasha Richardson may have lost her life because the Quebec provincial healthcare system did not provide emergency helicopter service to bring her to a specialized hospital where her head injury could have been treated. The injury occurred at a ski resort about 2 and half hours' drive from the city. Update: commenters point out that Ms Richardson refused treatment for two hours following her accident. If so, perhaps helicopters, even if available, would not have been able to evactuate her in time.
The AP story on the subject flatly states that Quebec does not provide medical helicopter service. I am not certain this is factually correct, however. Air Médic, a medical ambulance service, is one of the few tenants of Mirabel Airport, the hugely expensive white elephant government project outside Montreal, built to be Canada's premier international gateway, but later abandoned as a passenger airport.
Air Médic's website is here, so is Air Médic defunct, but still alive on the web?
Update: The system of emergency medicine in the United States is far better than most Americans realize. The much-vaunted European and Canadian system cannot compare. I know of someone who died a few years ago following a medical emergency in Rome. Two doctors familiar with the Italian and American medical systems stated without reservation that the patient would have lived, had the incident occurred int he United States.
Ms. Richardson's family, especially her children, deserve oursympathy. Her mother, the actress Vanessa Redgrave, is a notorious leftist. But even leftists deserve sympathy for their losses.Update: The system of emergency medicine in the United States is far better than most Americans realize. The much-vaunted European and Canadian system cannot compare. I know of someone who died a few years ago following a medical emergency in Rome. Two doctors familiar with the Italian and American medical systems stated without reservation that the patient would have lived, had the incident occurred int he United States.
Something doesn't make sense in the report of the incident in Canada.
