How we can actually USE the Michael Jackson tragedy for POLITICAL GOOD

Ok, I know some of you are sick to death of hearing about the death of that one guy from Gary, Indiana. Yes, MTV and the Media made a buffet of garish cannibalism out of it, scourging themselves for doing the very same actions that got them rich, and the very same actions they will do once his body gets cold enough. A lot of you said something to the effect of "why is there so much talk about this guy when there is REAL news to be talking about?' I hear you on that, if he had the choice, certainly Mr. Jackson would rather be back in his ranch than watching all this crap on TV. But, we on the left do have a tendecy to just roll our nose up at pop culture, which is a weakness the Right-wing exploits. I am not saying we all have to start wearing sparkly gloves, but if we look, there is a way we can use Mj's tragedy to highight several key issues in this culture that need fixing.

One: Medicine. Don't you love the way so many doctors are doing their best to ensure nothing changes. Remember how the AMA booed Obama? Of course, doctors insist that they only want to provide the best for their patient, and that they are a "self-policing" profession that will not let a doctor take advantage of a patient. OK, this is where MJ can REALLY help us get some mileage. Forget the fact that a doctor is suspected of giving him drugs that should never be out of a hospital. The quacks can then say "oh, that's just one rogue doctor." Of course, it is funny that there are so many celebrity cases where some rogue doctor shows up; does Hollywood have some secret medical college they all go to, where half of the graudtaes go on to "sports medicine or plastic surgery? No, let'a focus on the prescriptions he did have. It's easy to look and say "Why did he have so many medical prescriptions?" but truth be told, most of those happen to be common, and many people are prescribed prescription drugs like they were candy. I will guarantee you that in your family, there is at leats one family member who has a regimen of at least five medications, possibly more. Note how the usual suspects keep showing up: Oxycontin, Ambien, Zoloft, Paxil. Of course, the elephant in the room is this, Big Pharma makes money, and Dcotors make money by acting as pushers. Granted, I know there are bondafide uses for these meds, but we cannot deny that many doctors are being irresponsible, not even checking to see of some other Doctor has prescribed the same thing. It's easy tpo laugh at Michael, because he got hooked on painkillers after his hair caught fire; how many people got hooked on this same crap after an injury at work? Of course, it is bad enough when someone who can afford this regimen gets hooked, what about those of us who cannot thanks to insurance changes?

Two: Doctors. I know this seems like it could have been addressed above, but frankly, MJ also shows the other side of Medical abuse, quack surgery. MJ got vitiligo, started wearing the glove to cover the fact his hand got pale, it went to his face. The doctors recommended skin bleaching a process that is painful, risky, and guess what, expensive. They alos chopped his nose into bits, knowing that MJ had serious issues with his dad, and did not want to look like him. Of course, on Television, you always have some nice sounding surgeon saying "no responsible surgeon would do that," again, this must be that mysterious Hollywood Medical college, the same people who killed Kanye West's mom, and deformed the hell out of Joan Rivers. Whoever these irresponsible surgeons are, they are not getting policed by the "self -police." Again, while there are many doctors who may be good, there are way too many who see dollar signs, and who will exploit as far as they will go, the welfare of the patient be damned.

The point is that MJ is a fine example of how Health care in this country is a mess, because Doctors and Medical Companies are in a dance, and they know they can exploit the patient. Next time some sanctimonius AMA scum talks about how bad "socialized" care is, you can bring up that even the best medical care money can buy is in many ways, sorely wanting, as that fellow from Gray, Indiana found out.

What can a doctor do besides ask their patient what else he is taking?

Are you advocating some kind of government run, national patient database that keeps track of everyone that gets a prescription filled?

No thanks.

I don't want the government keeping tabs on my prescriptions, and by default, the state of my mental health, sex life, etc. just because there are junkies like Jackson who abuse the current system.

surgery against his will just so they can mutilate his nose.

They talked him into it for the same reason they will talk you or your loved ones into some unneeded surgery, to get a big fat paycheck.

Please.

However, do not think it cannot happen to you, those are some very famous last words.

wanted. And if one doctor wouldn't give it to him he would move to the next.

I don't think so.

first of all, if you think that the rich and famous will stop there doctor shopping or plastic surgery just because we have single payer or a public option; well, bridge, brooklyn.

Secondly, blaming the media for the MJ death spectacle is a little bizarre considering that his family fully participated in making it all a spectacle and that he died under odd circumstances.

first of all, if you think that the rich and famous will stop there doctor shopping or plastic surgery just because we have single payer or a public option; well, bridge, brooklyn.

Actually, no..but MJ is an example of what happens even if money is not a factor...it is five times worse for people for whom money IS a factor.

The point was top remove the Halo that doctors are hiding behind.

point about how single payer won't change a thing as regards the rich and famous doing fucked up things to themselves via the medical profession. And some doctors are deserving of their reputations. And many doctors support single payer.

and I said that they would regardless, but that the point was that it is much worse for people who did NOT have the money to pay for it. Do people even read? And where did I ever imply that single player would allow for worse abuses, did I even MENTION single player, no, I said what happened to MJ was bad, what happens to us is worse!

and I unrecommended out of duty.

for being a perfect example of why the unrecommend function is a bad idea, heaven forbid anybody express a non approved viewpoint here.

For some reason, we have always been afraid of looking at doctors as human beings. We like to think of them as sainted beings looking out for the good of the sick. In reality though, they are as corrupt as any other profession, probably even worse.

as far as their capabilities and ethics. My doctor is terrific. She's a strong proponent of single payer and has been for years, but even if she weren't she's a dedicated and very competent and compassionate professional.

Guess what, your doctor is not the sort of doctor many here have had.

For actually getting the point!

And yes, some do support single payer, but many do not, and we need to call them out.

that no matter what, rich people will always be able to buy whatever they want when it comes to things that we call "healthcare". Neither public option or single payer is going to change that.

Were doctors exploiting MJ, or was he exploiting them? It all depends on whether you blame the sex worker or the john, the dealer or the addict.

isn't good for people who don't have any or for people who have a lot of it.

for expressing my point better than I did!

One of my sisters, before she passed, was dependant on dilaudid. It was very hard for the family.

People who work for them know that as soon as they say "NO", they get their last paycheck, and lose the best job they ever had..

What would help, would be for us all to do a gut-check, as a society, and stop "worshiping" people who can sing, dance, tell jokes, play-act, catch a ball, hit a ball, kick a ba;;, dunk a ball, etc.

Honestly, humans have always found ways to "worship" skill, and it is not just modern U.S. Society. Even Stalinist Russia had it's "nomenklatura"; people who got treated far better than everyone else thanks to some talent. Even if we stopped caring about people who "dunked a ball" we would make celebs out of people who do other things, which may or may not be as useful. To be honest, the reason I focused on Michael is because he was a clear example of where the system went wrong, and as much as we hate to admit, it sometimes takes a familiar image for people to understand an issue. Medical care stunk back when Michael Moore was just another guy working at General Motors, but it has become a lot easier to explain why we need Health Care reform after he released Sicko.

The thing is, while we know that there are rich people that will coerce Doctors into malpractice, we also know there are many Doctors who will not need any encouragement at all. I was going to bring up the smarmy "pain clinics" before someone here beat me to it. These are the same pain clinics that got Rush Limbaugh hooked. Granted, if they found Rush dead on his toilet, I would start singing "happy days are here again", but that would not stop me from telling some GOP that Florida Doctors were so sleazy they kept giving their idol drugs, or that the only relief we got was from a state regulation from Charlie "I HATE REGULATING ANYTHING" Crist.

As someone else here put it, when cash drives the system, we get a system that is awful, even for those who have cash, but much worse for those who don't. While people like Cali may have wonderful doctors who support single player, the fact is I could do a post here and say "Have you been treated well by your doctors?"; I guarantee you will find many negative experiences, indeed, some outright horror stories, and many of those doctors mentioned will very likely agree with the AMA doctors that boo Obama now , and hamstrung Hillary back in the 90's, all because they hinted at a reform that is not even CLOSE to single payer, though it might lead the nation stumbling in the proper direction. While some doctors deserve their halos, some need a whack in the head, especially those ones whose Money always seems to go towards those, Democrat or GOP, that keep that status quo.

To those that offered positive feedback, thank you. To those who just got cocky, unrec'd, or snarked, I just say "forgive them, for they know that they are tools."