Doctors Behind Bars

There’s one place in America where people are given 100% medical care provided by the state.  Every single medical need they have is provided, free of charge.  So I think it’s reasonable that we look at this system to provide some insight into what government-run healthcare in America would look like.  What is this system I refer to?  Why, the prison system, of course

Now, before we begin, let us not forget that this is a point Moore has made himself a number of times.  He made a huge deal after the capture of Saddam that the dictator was getting the type of free medical exam that American citizens couldn’t get, and in Sicko he took 9/11 victims to Gitmo to try to get the same level of care that the terror suspects held there were receiving.  So before you Mooreons attack me for an unfair comparison, remember that your lord and savior has been making this point for years.

As many as one in six deaths of California prison inmates last year might have been preventable, according to a study of medical care in 32 state lockups that will be used to help rebuild the troubled system.

One inmate, who reported extreme chest pains in the middle of the night, died of a heart ailment after waiting eight hours to see a doctor.

Another who complained for days of severe abdominal pain died of acute pancreatitis after medical staff did not believe his pleas were credible.

A third died after a two-year delay in diagnosis of his testicular cancer.

And an asthma patient died after failing to receive steroid medication for two days following transfer from a county jail.

The report, released Wednesday by the court-appointed receiver in charge of healthcare for the state’s 173,000 prisoners, revealed a broad pattern of delays in diagnosis, poor inmate access to doctors and tests, botched handling of medical records, and failure of medical staff to recognize and treat dangerous conditions.

Officials said some lapses led to disciplinary actions against doctors and nurses.

There were 426 deaths in 2006, including 43 suicides, and the study examined 381 of them.

Eighteen deaths were found to be preventable, meaning better medical management or a better system of care would have prevented deaths. An additional 48 were found to be “possibly preventable,” meaning better medical management of a system of care might have prevented death.

Of the deaths considered preventable, six were from asthma, which receiver Robert Sillen said he intended to make a priority for reforms.

“The leading cause of [preventable] death being asthma is unconscionable, and it is evidence of systemic problems and problems with individual clinical judgments,” Sillen said in an interview. “Adults in 21st century California should not have asthma as a primary cause of death.”

Now, be honest.  This could very easily be a report about the Canadian or British healthcare systems.  You could swap “NHS” for “prison” and end up with damn near a verbatim report.  If your goal is to provide 100% coverage to everyone then socialized medicine is for you.  If your goal is to provide the best quality coverage to the maximum number of people, we can all see just how wonderful the government is at providing 100% healthcare.

The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky is alleged to have said, “The way society treats its prisoners characterizes the level of its civilization.” I will leave it to the reader to determine to what degree proponents of 100% government-run healthcare are interested in a just and fair civilization.

Update by Lee: From a commenter at my main blog.