Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

[Malacite]

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Go under the "Health" sub-menu and click "Weil: We need to get serious."

It's 18 minutes long and very much worth watching. I just have to though when I think about how for the last 10 years this guy was lauded as a "quack" and now suddenly everyone's wising up and paying attention to him. It's pretty sad that it takes a national crisis to get people to listen to sage advise.

Oh and it's not just the U.S. they discuss, but rather healthcare across the globe. The only thing Weil says that's wrong is when he mentions that he doesn't believe any country encourages preventative care; this is false. Great Britain does, and doctors receive merit pay based on how many patients they take the time to sit down with and give advice on how to lead a healthier life style. Obviously they have their own problems too and no system is perfect, but I was just citing that as a corrective example.

It's also interesting to note that the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer drug advertisement.

[Karinya]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

Weil is labeled a quack because he is a quack. A particularly good (?) quote from quackwatch.com's article on him:

My intuitions about disease are: first, that its physical manifestations are mostly caused by nonmaterial factors, in particular by unnatural restraints placed on the unconscious mind; and second, that the limits to what human consciousness can cause in the physical body are far beyond where most of us imagine them.

Does that sound like a reasonable person to you?

It doesn't take a genius to know that American healthcare is screwed up. Apparently it doesn't take a real doctor, either.

[DakAttack]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

It's also interesting to note that the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer drug advertisement.

It's all about the money.

I don't quite understand 'unnatural restraints placed on the unconscious mind'.

[Pwnagraphic]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

Weil is labeled a quack because he is a quack. A particularly good (?) quote from quackwatch.com's article on him:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Weil
My intuitions about disease are: first, that its physical manifestations are mostly caused by nonmaterial factors, in particular by unnatural restraints placed on the unconscious mind; and second, that the limits to what human consciousness can cause in the physical body are far beyond where most of us imagine them.
Does that sound like a reasonable person to you?

It doesn't take a genius to know that American healthcare is screwed up. Apparently it doesn't take a real doctor, either.

Yeah that's just TOO muchy thinking..

[Malacite]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

So much ignorance...

[Feba]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

So much ignorance...

Yeah, fuck science. It's only the art of finding out how reality works.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

U.S. and New Zealand

Dang. New Zealand was my planned getaway country. >.>

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------

Yeah, fuck science. It's only the art of finding out how reality works.

[Empedocles]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

Dang. New Zealand was my planned getaway country. >.>

You don't want to come here. Bad. Very bad. Norway is a better country, go there!

[Karinya]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

YM, I think that's going to go a little over Mal's head. How about this one:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty33v7UYYbw"]YouTube - They Might Be Giants - Science is Real[/ame]

[Pwnagraphic]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

You don't want to come here. Bad. Very bad. Norway is a better country, go there!

Aw New Zealands pretty though.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

You don't want to come here. Bad. Very bad. Norway is a better country, go there!

Nah we're all coming to New Zealand so move over Emp! You're gonna have company!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

[Tickmeoff]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

You don't want to come here. Bad. Very bad. Norway is a better country, go there!

I hear Norway is pretty awesome, but I've heard it's fucktons of expensive to live there.

[Lmnop]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

Pretty sure New Zealand is worse (cost of living-wise). And I think they know their country is the best ever, so they try really hard to make sure the rest of the world stays away.

I hear they shoot your pets.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

Solution to present Health Care debate:

(1) Burn current bill. Start over. Its not like anyone's really reading the current bill anyone. Some things liberals say isn' t in there is in there, and then there's stuff conservatives say is in there that's n9t in there at all. Its all just lying and spin.

(2) Don't fix what isn't broken, focus on what is broken and find ways to address it. A public option won't do anything but bring mediocrity. Look at public schools, how do they compete with private schools? Oh right, they don't, they're cutting corners anywhere they can just to keep students. Teachers are stretched thin and overburdened.

I don't see anyone running around screaming "Students fail while we wait." That's because those eople are deluded enough to think that if a student isn't passing, he's just not studying enough. That would imply that memorization equals learning, which isn't exactly the truth. If Nintendo can step in and make math more fun, intuitive and interesting than teachers can - and they have done that - that should be a warning sign of how bad things are there.

So, yeah, not confident in public options. I don't think it will doom the system like the conservatives do, I just think it will bring more mediocrity from our government. People that actually deal with real competition tend to innovate, the federal government does not know what innovation is.

(3) Democrats and Republicans all need to sit down and discuss what needs to be fixed. If they really want to honor the memory of Sen. Ted Kennedy, they will sit and discuss and look where compromises that can be made. Ted Kennedy was not a man to take bills that were thrown together and shove them down the American people's throats. He listened.

(4) Keep Obama out of it. The concept that "less testing" needs to be done shows an extreme level in insensitivity to people who actually live with various conditions he has not had. The way he makes it sounds, doctors and insurance companies are like car mechanics. No one goes to medical school and does internships for so long just so they can bullshit you like a guy that spent a couple months learning how to fix cars.

For all the testing I had to go through just to pinpoint that my condition was not a physical condition, but a mental illness, I'm thankful to have been put through all the testing, the months of frustration and the trail and error. My insurer covered the bulk of these tests and I had the option to seek out other doctors if I wanted a different assessment. When our system works, it works wonderfully. its not really as broken as people seem to be making it sound, its just not a perfect system.

[Empedocles]

Re: Andrew Weil on the Healthcare Debate

Aw New Zealands pretty though.

Which is opposed by the constant talk and footage of big sweaty men rubbing against each other in tight shirts and shorts.
In other words, RUGBY RUGBY RUGBY.

Pretty sure New Zealand is worse (cost of living-wise). And I think they know their country is the best ever, so they try really hard to make sure the rest of the world stays away.

I think we are about average cost-of-living... it's just our currency seems to be in the lower half of the world's trade exchange.
Our economy/government relies heavily on tourism, so the approach is more: "Give us your hard-earned vacation money... then GTFOlolololol"

I hear they shoot your pets.

Nah that's Australia.