I’m still running a bit behind because of the cold. It is a good thing I didn’t get sick in the UK. They are denying a man a surgery to fix his broken ankle because he smokes. Is it just me or is part of the Hippocratic Oath being overlooked here? I could understand a lung transplant being denied but surgery on an ankle? We aren’t far behind that in the USA.
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This is Michel Moore’s dream! We can have this too once NHS kicks in (oh it will happen)…
I’d love to be able to say this was surprising, but it’s not. I guess once we have socialized medicine, the state gets to choose who lives and dies based upon adherence to state sanctioned habits.
The Soviet past is our future! “Welcome aboard comrade! The line for bread starts over there! No smoking, your body belongs to the state!”
Bones may heal properly when you smoke. Especially important for spine surgery.
Oops I meant to say that bones may NOT heal as well or promptly when you smoke. Obviously, since cigar smoking is not addicting, it should not be a problem to lay off for the 6-8 weeks for the bones to heal. Cigarettes carry the additional risk of impaired lung function which increases the risks of anesthesia.
I have been to 10 or more medical conferences this year where a doctor introduces a new orthopedic technique and most of them view the ideal candidate for their procedure to be a non-smoker. Physicians put smokers into a high-risk category for any surgery and thanks to sky high medical malpracitce rates, they can’t take the chance.
Matt and bdm,
Thank you for your responses. I understand and agree that a lifetime of cigarette smoking does not make you an ideal candidate for surgery. I think the problem you have here is a state run medical system that people have become so reliant on that they don’t carry the coverage we do to afford private practice leaving them no choice, but to rely on the state run healthcare.
?State run? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. In this country, the gov’t has not been able to say no to any healthcare e.g., dialysis on demented 80 year old nursing home residents is paid for. In G.B they won’t pay for dialyis after age 65. Only if there is a major financial meltdown will there be any substantive change in health care policy. Just look at Hillary’s plan – an extension of the current insurance based financing, not the radical plan she espoused the first time around.
The article was about the GB Healthcare System that in the US. The government in Healthcare dictating even more about what I can and can’t do freaks me out.
Way to keep this politic free :)
I will always opt for private health care. Jesse you are not alone, I don’t want uncle Sam to tell me that I will live or die because they do not agree with what I do. I have seen many life long cigarette smokers get surgery. I don’t know how much of an effect smoking has on the bones but I don’t think that 6-8 weeks for a life long smoker would make that much of a difference.
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