Socialized medicine in Sweden
Free medical care for all! What a wonderful socialist dream!
It's a dream that never works. Whenever it is attempted it leads to heavily rationed care at generally low standards. The GOP now seems inclined to give up the fight against Obamacare so America too will soon be getting its version of socialized medicine.
EVERY DAY I put up reports of the woeful way people are treated in Britain under socialized medicine and roughly a couple of days a week I put up similar reports from Australia. (See EYE ON BRITAIN and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
But what about Sweden? What about the socialist paradise? Surely it works there! It doesn't. I haven't got the time to blog regularly about the Swedish situation but below are three recent reports from Sweden that should steel the resolve of American conservatives not to give up the fight against Obamacare.
America's health system right now is not perfect but if you want to find out how bad it can become, just do nothing. Reports from Sweden follow. They are eerily similar to what we hear from Britain and Australia -- JR:
Child's appendix bursts after 20 hour ER wait
A nine-year-old boy with appendicitis was made to wait more than 20 hours for surgery at the emergency ward of a Stockholm-area children's hospital before his appendix finally burst.
William arrived at Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital in Stockholm last Thursday after suffering stomach pains for days. He was immediately diagnosed with appendicitis, but then nothing happened.
After having his operation repeatedly pushed back by doctors, William's desperate parents were told by the chief surgeon that an operation would only be possible if it was carried out "the old-fashioned way", rather than using a procedure which resulted in less scarring.
"There was only one overnight operating room to handle all of Stockholm's children," William's father told DN. "I'm convinced that if we hadn't demanded to speak with the chief surgeon we would have had to wait yet another night."
But by the time doctors operated on the nine-year-old, his appendix had already burst, resulting in an extended hospital stay, two weeks of missed school, and no ice hockey for young William until after Christmas. "If they had operated sooner, I'd be home now," the nine-year-old told the paper.
Employees at the hospital acknowledged that patient safety is in jeopardy. "Tough budget cuts, staff shortages, and recruitment difficulties have unfortunately put more pressure on surgeries and meant that children and parents have had to wait longer as a result," a hospital employee told DN.
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Man left with rotting leg after hospital 'loses' him
A 21-year-old Swedish man fears that he will be unable to walk unaided again after Linköping University Hospital lost track of him, leading to a delay in the treatment of a routine foot fracture.
John Bruhne broke his foot while skateboarding and was told by the hospital that he would be home within a couple of days. Six weeks and eight operations later Bruhne was however still in hospital, according to a report by Sveriges Television Östnytt.
The extended hospital stay was made necessary after staff at the hospital lost track of him as he was moved across several wards.
The subsequent delay in his treatment meant that the muscles surrounding the broken bone began to wither and rot.
Once the hospital had finally located him, Bruhne underwent an emergency operation and three muscles were removed from his bone. He has since undergone a further seven operations to address the injury and ensuing complications.
The 21-year-old expressed concern that he would be unable to make a full recovery from his injury. "Perhaps I will never be able to walk again. then I think about the sports. That I will never be able to play football or inner-bandy," he said to SVT. "It is awful that this type of thing has to happen just to save money."
The incident has been reported to the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) in accordance with Sweden's Lex-Maria laws, the informal name for regulations governing the reporting of injuries and incidents in the healthcare system.
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Swede forced to fake stroke to get x-ray for brain tumor
A Swedish man has reported his local hospital after being forced to fake stroke symptoms to finally get an x-ray, following years of debilitating headaches and high blood pressure.
“I have filed a report so that this won’t happen to others,” Mats Johannesson told The Local.
Johannesson, who is in his forties and was working as a truck driver, fell ill some five years ago. After seeking medical help from his local clinic in Mellerud he was referred to the nearest hospital, the Norra Älvsborgs lasarett, but was sent home again with some painkillers.
“I asked for an x-ray but they didn’t think there was enough reason to carry one out,” Johannsesson said.
This continued on and off for the next five years. By last summer, Johannesson had gone to hospital by ambulance 47 times. Every time he was sent back by taxi – and without the x-ray he asked for. “I have lived with this for so long now,” Johannesson said.
On the May 20th this year, Johannesson collapsed again but was sent home once more without an x-ray. When it happened again on July 19th Johannesson was determined not to be brushed off. “I thought to myself ‘ I am going to get a scan this time’,” Johannesson told The Local.
When the doctor came to check him over, Johannesson therefore pretended to have had a stroke, making himself go limp on the left side of his body . When the attending physician asked him to touch his nose with his fingertips, he missed on purpose.
“And then they got worried and I was taken for an emergency x-ray straight away,” Johannesson said.
When they had performed the scan the doctor told him that there was no haemorrhage but that they had detected a tumour in his brain. He is now getting anti-retroviral drugs and is set to be admitted to hospital in two weeks.
Johannesson has now reported the hospital to the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen). The hospital is also conducting an internal investigation and mulling reporting itself in accordance with Lex Maria regulations on reporting instances of patient harm in the Swedish healthcare system.
“I am frankly furious with what has happened. I could have been spared all these years’ suffering. When I was put on the drugs the symptoms disappeared over night,” Johannesson told The Local.
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