On 25 May 2007 at 12:52, Dan Minette wrote: > > But that doesn't prove anything. The barriers to seeing a doctor in > > America in the first place are still there (there is no chance to the > > philosophy of access, or of methods of treatment), > > I'm not sure what you are getting at. With basic Medicare, one can chose any > physician or hospital that takes Medicare (the overwhelming majority do). > My mom can has her choice of many different physicians on Medicare. Are you > talking about the co-pay (about $15.00 for an office visit), difficulties in > getting to the physician or what?
If I need to see a doctor, I inform my workplace and go. I make up the hours. That's pretty standard for non-shift workers here. As opposed to being told to take holiday.. > >and getting a prescription can be difficult for many drugs in the first > >place. > > Are you talking about differences in requirements for FDA vs. UK approval of > drugs? I know the FDA is rather conservative that way...and that is a topic > that can be discussed....but it's a tradeoff situation I think. Well, I don't know about authorising drugs. But I do know this: many more drugs in America are prescription. This is because there are only two catagories of drugs, over the counter and prescription (excepting a few drugs under specific state laws). The UK has a third category, which is "behind the counter" - a trained pharmacist can dispense the drug, and it's kept literally behind the counter, not on the shop floor. And that's not a small category here either. We also have, in the last decade, shifted quite heavily towards collective doctor's practices - five or six doctors, as many nurse practices and often a dentist in one large collectively owned building. They can see you quickly (if you're not worried about seeing precisely the same person, they have all your records so it doesn't bother me) and have deacently long opening hours. I won't get into the entire societal attitude thing. AndrewC Dawn Falcon _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
