From John Farnam:

15 June 09 On socialized medicine, from a friend and physician: “I recently returned from Canada, where I practiced medicine for many years until I finally, in disgust, immigrated to the United States. The state of socialized medicine there is now even worse (if such a thing can be imagined) than it was when I left. The national government created seventeen ‘Regional Health Authorities,’ that pay no attention to provincial boundaries. Each is responsible for ‘ managing’ health-care decisions in their geographic area. When it became clear that didn’t work, the government responded by creating a health-care ‘ Superboard’ that dictates to regional boards. Government’s solution to messes it creates is, without fail, ‘more government!’ The net result has been fewer doctors, fewer nurses, but an ever-expanding army of ignorant bureaucrats, none of whom deliver any health care to anyone. Hospitals continue to be chronically understaffed, and waiting times for even simple medical procedures has now increased to the point where they are, for all practical purposes, unavailable. Who can afford it, come to the USA to get done what needs doing. The balance of Canadians tolerate this disaster, even as they watch their own family members languish in pain and die needlessly. They have been indoctrinated by the liberal media who tells them that they, as individuals, are insignificant. Only the government, and those in it, are important. Americans who look to Canada as a ‘shining example’ of socialized medicine are like investors who buy junk bonds, because their broker tells them, with a straight face, that junk bonds are actually better than blue-chip stocks. Those brokers, like socialists in Washington and the media, are no more than cheap hucksters, talking endlessly about the precious-few good points, while deliberating hiding the multitude of horrifying issues with national health systems like Canada’s. What ever happened to ‘full-disclosure?’ It’s time to shout down these lying con-men. The alternative will be a medical meltdown that defies the imagination. Believe me, I’ve seen it!” Comment: Is this what we thought we wanted? /John

See? Socialized medicine works. Medical care adminstered by the government works! We have proof! Witness Canada.

(I’ll stop being sarcastic now).

Fools learn from their own mistakes. Wise men learn from the mistakes of others.

I fear the number of fools in my nation is growing. I’d love to be proven wrong.