PM: Blindly prolonging life is not the solution
-
Saying that, why have the PTC for public transport companies? Why not let them increase prices at their whim and put themselves out of business?Originally posted by crazy monkey:its a private clinic. let market forces decide. doctor can charge $100 if he wants to. he probably put himself out of business. -
clinic is clinic transport company is transport companyOriginally posted by bigmouthjoe:Saying that, why have the PTC for public transport companies? Why not let them increase prices at their whim and put themselves out of business?
clinic = perfect competition
transport company = oligopoly -
It is true, heard this from the local public hospital even dr went there to find out more about it. Now countries like Taiwan is into medical "business", getting ready to attract people to Taiwan for treatment, competitive, so must he create something like that to affect the image. News of this nature reaches the ears of the foreigners, it will affect the image of Singapore aiming to be a medical hub.Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:With the high costs of medical treatment in Singapore and the joke of a medical coverage, one wonder is it a choice of choosing to die, or not having the financial means to have treatment?
The biggest joke is that despite Singapore's aim to be a medical hub, it is actually behind countries like Thailand. Any visitors to Bangkok's private hospitals HAVE to admit they administer better treatments, better service, a better environment at less than half the price.
It takes someone who is so cold blooded to come out with this sort of nuisance. -
The funny thing is that the PTC is another joke best left for another day. And do you actually realised that most Singaporeans have no choice but to die? The medisave with it's red tapes is a joke and has no practical use at all.Originally posted by crazy monkey:clinic is clinic transport company is transport company
clinic = perfect competition
transport company = oligopolySingaporeÂ’s 3Ms plan has some glaring contradictions. Because our
All in all, unless you are rich in Singapore, be prepared to die.
health declines as we age and health spending increases accordingly, any
compulsory savings scheme based on the principle of self-reliance should
ask people to save as much as they can during their working years for
their health- and long-term-care costs, particularly the high costs after
retirement. However, Medisave caps the balance in the medical savings
account to a maximum amount. This amount is not sufficient
to protect the elderly who have serious chronic diseases and need
surgery. Moreover, CPF allows participants to withdraw their savings
savings at age Sixty-two (now sixty-five), leaving only a tiny balance in the account. These features defeat the whole purpose of compelling people to save so that they have the financial means to be responsible for their own health expenses.
Private insurance schemes tend to select healthy people to insure and
exclude those who need more health services. Often a nation justifies
using a public monopoly to provide health insurance to avoid this risk
selection. Public monopoly also pools the risk nationwide. The Singapore
government created the MediShield as a public monopoly, insuring its
citizens for a part of their catastrophic medical expenses. Yet MediShield
adopted the risk selection practices of private insurance schemes by
excluding as enrollees persons aged seventy and older and by not covering
some expensive services, such as treatments for congenital abnormalities,
mental illness, and HIV/AIDS (Central Provident Fund 1999).
These restrictions contradict the rationale for using a public monopoly to
provide catastrophic insurance and defeat the purpose of insurance.
These irrational practices leave those who need risk protection the most
without insurance coverage. Those who canÂ’t afford to pay have to forgo
medical care or plead for public charity. -
Excuse me, just side track a little. By the way, the increase in fares by PTC is that they need to be accountable to the shareholders. That is what they claimed. Was in a project on public transport, it is said that the priority of providing public transport is to serve the need of the public, making $$$ does not take priority over providing the public with the need.Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:Saying that, why have the PTC for public transport companies? Why not let them increase prices at their whim and put themselves out of business?
Back to the topic, I am not surprise at all one day they make it a must for the govt to decide whether the terminally ill should continue to live or to go for euthanasia! Such, the terminally ill live at the mercy of them! -
Remember that the next time you get hit by a car at 3am at Changi Beach.Originally posted by crazy monkey:clinic is clinic transport company is transport company
clinic = perfect competition
transport company = oligopoly
I hear the AH A&E department is $3 cheaper. Hope your life is worth the savings!
-
Originally posted by qlqq9:
Don't worry! If you don't have enough money to meet the PAP-governmeet-minister-style of "market-based system of pricing and co-payment", it's OK!!
Blindly prolonging life is not the solution: PM
Other healthcare priorities include the management of chronic diseases, which Mr Lee also mentioned last night as part of the "new and creative approa-ches" Singapore should explore to improve its market-based system of pricing and co-payment.
.
Maximising the benefits of IT is one such approach. For example, the National Healthcare Group has introduced tele- radiology at its polyclinics, where X-ray images are sent to Bangalore to be read.
.
This has reduced prices and cut turnaround times "dramatically from two to three days previously to an hour or less", said Mr Lee, who stressed: "We must press on with such initiatives."
.
He identified tele-pathology, which allows doctors who study disease processes and their causes to use telecommunications to transmit data and images, as one possibility.
We will just send your xrays to INDIA !! No problem!
Next step, telepathology!! We send your DEAD BODY to Bangalore too. Wow!!
I wonder why he don't embrace TELE-POLITICOLOGY. -
ok. so if i fall ill im gonna die cuz my life ain't worth the cost to society.
-
Originally posted by Ito_^:ok. so if i fall ill im gonna die cuz my life ain't worth the cost to society.
-
thank you for the synopsis.Originally posted by CoolMyth:Our PM is HNI (High-net worth Individual) mah.
Got any illness must treat.
Those ah gong ah ma, old liao, no contribution liao, and hence shall not have any medical resources wasted on them.
Basically, I think that sums up his point. 
-
make sure you die overseas!!!Originally posted by Ito_^:ok. so if i fall ill im gonna die cuz my life ain't worth the cost to society.
-
Live longer, work longer, get taxed longer
Live longer, work longer, withdraw CPF longer
Live longer, work longer, suck thumb longer -
was just thinking so when LKY time is up would he practice what he said?
-
Other than LKY, LHL has wife and his kids, mum and all in the family. His mum looks rather sickly. When the time comes that any of his family members are terminally sick, we shall say to him "don't waste the $$$ and resources, just go ahead with euthanaisa, to do the favour to help end the suffering of the whoever in your family"Originally posted by Arapahoe:was just thinking so when LKY time is up would he practice what he said? -
Yeah!! I challenge him to sign his AMD in front of everyone and publish in the papers for us to see.Originally posted by Arapahoe:was just thinking so when LKY time is up would he practice what he said?
What u want to bet his xrays get read by the most senior radiologist around (who probably spends ten times going over and over it just in case) instead of getting sent to India like us common folk? -
Thye child in question may not even need antibiotics. It was probably a viral upper respiratory tract infection which the polyclinic doctor will treat with antihistamines and cough syrup. The cost of the medication will be less than $8. The consultation fee is $4.
Let the market decide what's fair. A far cheaper and effective alternative is there. If you choose to go private and insist on antibiotics when it is not required, it is only right that you should pay for it. -
doctors advise patients, ultimately patients make the choice. don't think that pm is referrring particularly to this sort of nature when he talks about blindly prolonging life is not the solutionOriginally posted by oxford mushroom:Thye child in question may not even need antibiotics. It was probably a viral upper respiratory tract infection which the polyclinic doctor will treat with antihistamines and cough syrup. The cost of the medication will be less than $8. The consultation fee is $4.
Let the market decide what's fair. A far cheaper and effective alternative is there. If you choose to go private and insist on antibiotics when it is not required, it is only right that you should pay for it. -
Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
Thye child in question may not even need antibiotics. It was probably a viral upper respiratory tract infection which the polyclinic doctor will treat with antihistamines and cough syrup. The cost of the medication will be less than $8. The consultation fee is $4.
Let the market decide what's fair. A far cheaper and effective alternative is there. If you choose to go private and insist on antibiotics when it is not required, it is only right that you should pay for it.[/quote]
the issued is more complex than antitbiotics and market forces.
U see when u grow old there is only 1 thing to fight for that is your health really.
all depend upon 3 entities. Insurance, physician, pharmaceutical company
I am not even talking about aging parents etc...just yourself when your body start failing.
[/quote] -
I'm seriously wondering why are we paying them so much when at end of the day, their 'solution' to our aging problem is to ask people to go and die....?Originally posted by LazerLordz:This country is going to the dogs, with this inept and calculating bunch of monkeys running the show. -
we don't pay them that much, they write their own pay cheques. think it is in the name of $$$ that lee hsien loong does not wanna prolong life blindly. so does it mean he is insinuating he does not trust the doctors are doing the job well. The mouth speaks what the heart thinks, so such is a man who leads the nation!Originally posted by Devil1976:I'm seriously wondering why are we paying them so much when at end of the day, their 'solution' to our aging problem is to ask people to go and die....? -
You probably didn't see the reply - the lady deliberately left out some important details. Lucky she never kena sue for defamation.Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:High prices for common drugs in HDB heartland
MY CHILD was sick, down with a bad cough, sore throat, runny nose and a slight fever on Feb 16. At 9pm, our family doctor had left so we went to another private clinic - 'Street 11 Clinic' at Block 139 Tampines Street 11.
After a brief consultation, she was given these medicines cough syrup (one bottle, 'Dhasedyl, 90ml'); a packet of 'Danzen' (20 tablets, 5mg) for the throat; 'Telfast D' (10 tablets) for runny nose and antibiotics 'Klacid MR' (five 500mg tablets for throat and nose).
I was astonished when I received the bill. These medicines cost me $80. I am puzzled at the high cost because I believe that my daughter's symptoms were fairly common and she was treated by a locum.
I feel the clinic had either overcharged and jacked up the price of common drugs, or did it give me unnecessarily expensive drugs for a common illness
I asked the receptionist for a breakdown of the cost of the various medicines. To my surprise, the staff informed me that the five antibiotic tablets alone cost $37.
I believe Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan had mentioned that affordable medicines be provided for patients at reasonable prices. Yet the clinic in our heartlands is charging drugs such as 'Klacid MR' at an exorbitant price. This is a worrying problem which I hope can be addressed to benefit the masses.
Gan Siok Wah (Mdm)
The Straits Times
Feb 23, 2006
Clinic did not overcharge patient
THERE are two issues in the letter by Mdm Gan Siok Wah in 'High prices for common drugs in HDB heartland' (ST, Feb 21).
First, the alleged overcharging. I would like to clarify that the $80 bill includes both the consultation fee and the medication prescribed to her daughter.
Her daughter was billed $22 for consultation fee for a visit at 9.20pm, when the Singapore Medical Association's recommendation to all clinics is $25 to $55 for consultation between 9pm and midnight.
With regard to the five tablets of Klacid MR 500mg costing $37, the price charged at our clinic adheres closely to the recommended retail price set by Abbott Laboratories (S) Pte Ltd. Mdm Gan is at liberty to confirm the price with them at customer.services.sg@ abbot.com.
Second, unnecessarily expensive medication.
As Mdm Gan has chosen to breach doctor-patient confidentiality by going public with her daughter's medical condition, I would like to highlight the fact that she omits to mention that her daughter had the symptoms for five days prior to the consultation in my clinic and that she had been treated elsewhere for similar complaints without improvement.
It is medically prudent to treat a patient with second line medication if the patient shows no improvement after treatment with first line medication. This was why her daughter was prescribed such medication by our clinic.
I stand by the fact that our clinic did not overcharge Mdm Gan. Nor was her daughter given any unnecessary treatment.
I would be most grateful if you can publish this to clarify the misconception that Mdm Gan's letter has created in the minds of the public.
Dr Low Jin Kheng
Clinic Manager
Street 11 Clinic
Feb 24, 2006 -
Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:
Eh, I just realised BigMouthJoe, all the articles you posted can be found on my webpage, but with one big difference... my webpage has the REPLY.
With the high costs of medical treatment in Singapore and the joke of a medical coverage, one wonder is it a choice of choosing to die, or not having the financial means to have treatment?
The biggest joke is that despite Singapore's aim to be a medical hub, it is actually behind countries like Thailand. Any visitors to Bangkok's private hospitals HAVE to admit they administer better treatments, better service, a better environment at less than half the price.
No MRI on weekends, blame it on 'bad luck'
MY FATHER, Ang Teong Hui, was admitted recently to Changi General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a mild stroke. However, his condition deteriorated and he fell into a coma on the same day.
The doctors did various tests on him and took scans of his brain where they eventually found the cause of his deteriorating condition.
However, the last scan - an MRI - was done a day after he was admitted, after the doctors felt that he might not pull through and needed the scan urgently.
When asked why the scan was not done earlier, the doctor replied that it was bad luck on my father's part as MRI scans were not done on weekends.
After my father was transferred out of the intensive-care unit to a normal ward, we asked one of the nurses why such a piece of state-of-the-art equipment was not used on weekends.
The nurse replied that it was unfair to recall the doctors just to do the scan because weekends were supposed to be their rest days.
Well, if it was unfair for the doctors to work on weekends, was it fair for my father to be denied treatment on a weekend, especially when the situation was so crucial?
My father died on Oct 8, aged 53, and there is nothing my family and I can do to bring him back. But I would like to make it known to Changi General Hospital and the relevant government departments that attitudes such as those mentioned above were incorrect.
Ang Yu Ying (Ms)
The Straits Times
Oct 29, 2004
Anyway, once again, it's quite interesting to read the reply.
Anyone interested in seeing the replies to the rest of the letters he posted can see my website.
MRIs available round the clock at hospital
I REFER to the letter, 'No MRI on weekends, blame it on 'bad luck' (ST, Oct 29), by Ms Ang Yu Ying. Our deepest condolences go to Ms Ang's family for the loss of her father, Mr Ang Teong Hui.
We have since contacted Ms Ang's elder sister - Ms Ang Yu Ying is away from Singapore - to address their concerns.
Mr Ang was admitted to Changi General Hospital (CGH) on Sept 25, a Saturday. Based on his symptoms and pre-existing medical conditions, he was diagnosed to have suffered a stroke. The neurologist-on-call immediately started anti-coagulation treatment to manage his condition.
Mr Ang was managed by a neurologist throughout his stay. He had two CT scans done on an urgent basis on his admission which confirmed the stroke. CT scans are used as a first line to confirm if a stroke has occurred.
An urgent MRI scan was also done on Sunday to confirm the clinical diagnosis of a brain-stem stroke.
As Mr Ang had already been diagnosed with a stroke, his treatment would not have changed with the CT and MRI findings.
We apologise to Ms Ang and her family if our doctor had miscommunicated that MRIs are not available on weekends. We agree that all our staff should communicate to patients professionally and with empathy.
CT scans and MRIs are available at anytime, including weekends and public holidays. Our radiologists and radiographers are on call 24 hours a day to attend to urgent requests. We would like to assure the public that no one will be denied essential services at CGH.
We thank Ms Ang for the opportunity to clarify her concerns. If further clarification is needed, please call Ms Lim Puay Keng on 6850-2732.
T. K. Udairam
Chief Executive Officer
Changi General Hospital
Nov 3, 2004
http://www.geraldtan.com/medaffairs/forum-two_sides.html
I'm not siding with either the patient or the hospital - I'm just saying that every letter needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. -
Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:
Last reply.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doctor prescribed unsuitable rash cream
I AM writing to highlight a very unpleasant experience I had with Thomson Paediatric Centre at Thomson Medical Centre.
On Feb 1, I brought my then four-month-old baby to see the pediatrician for a rash on his cheeks. The consultation with the doctor was over in about five minutes as he had to rush off elsewhere.
The doctor prescribed Elidel (pimecrolimus) cream 1% for the rash and told me to apply it twice daily on the affected area. Although this cream cost me $50, I did not mind as I thought it should be good for my son. But this was not the case.
Imagine my shock when I found out through the Internet that Elidel is not approved for use for children below two-years-old.
The possibility of carcinogenicity of Elidel aside, our Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the US Food and Drug Administration concur in the recommendation against the use of Elidel for children younger than two-years-old.
In addition, both authorities recommend that Elidel should be used only if other creams have not worked.
It was my baby's first visit to the doctor concerning the rash on his face. Yet he was given a cream that is not meant for babies of his age. The doctor also did not caution me on the use of the cream.
I e-mailed Thomson Medical Centre my complaint on Feb 11. To date, it has not responded.
I am disturbed by the lack of consideration in prescribing Elidel for babies against the HSA's recommendations and the medical centre's slow response in this matter.
Are there any measures to ensure that such strong medication is not prescribed carelessly? I hope the relevant authorities can look into this matter to protect other babies and parents who may be none the wiser about this.
Ruth Tan Yueh Herng (Ms)
The Straits Times
Feb 23, 2006
[/b]
Safe to use rash cream on young infants
I APPRECIATE Ms Ruth Tan Yueh Herng's vexation over her child's skin condition in 'Doctor prescribed unsuitable rash cream' (ST, Feb 23). But her letter contains a few misperceptions.
First, this was not the first time Ms Tan had visited our clinic for her child's eczema. It was their third visit for the same condition.
A steroid cream prescribed in a previous visit was obviously ineffective. In fact, Ms Tan had mentioned that the rash was not responding to treatment elsewhere.
As the eczema was severe, a second line medication like Elidel 1% or Protopic 0.03% is in order. This was a considered prescription and not a careless one as mentioned.
The question is: Is Elidel safe in the dosage and duration prescribed? Elidel is an approved drug in Singapore, USA and other countries.
When the US Food and Drugs Administration approved the drug in 2001, the studies were based on children two years and older. Since then, there have been published studies showing that Elidel is safe for use as a topical skin medication in children three months and older.
As a result, the following countries have approved Elidel for use in children three months and older: Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand.
In Singapore, a multicentre trial involving the National Skin Centre, Changi General Hospital and National University Hospital has been initiated to establish the efficacy and safety of Elidel 1% cream in infants.
Perhaps this is why the Health Sciences Authority has not yet updated its recommendation for the use of Elidel 1% in young infants.
Both steroids and Elidel work by suppressing the immune system. Theoretically, both could cause cancer.
Indeed, oral and injectable steroids and Elidel have been implicated in studies to be carcinogens.
However, the topical forms of these drugs have been found to be very safe in large-scale use.
Topical steroids have been in use for decades while there are over seven million users of Elidel 1%. Studies have shown that such creams have minimal penetration beyond the skin and are not well absorbed into the body.
I understand Ms Tan's frustration when her email went unanswered. But she had chosen to email Thomson Medical Centre instead of our clinic.
We could have clarified the matter and saved her unnecessary worry. We would also have told her that I was called to attend to an emergency Caesarean section immediately after the consultation.
It was unfortunate but my patients who have further queries will wait for my return, which takes up to 15 minutes. If this had upset her, I apologise.
Dr Ang Poon Liat
Feb 28, 2006 -
did BMJ see the reply or choose to keep quiet ?
still no reply from BMJ ? -
The usual bunch of losers ranting again, then run away when they lose the argument....Originally posted by crazy monkey:did BMJ see the reply or choose to keep quiet ?
still no reply from BMJ ?