My wife and I watched a renovation show. A makeover program responded to a woman’s request to renovate the garage and surprise her husband for his birthday.

Before renovation, the garage looked like a grownup’s version of a teenage bedroom.

Garage sale treasures hung from the ceiling and covered every corner. Work stations looked used: grinders had grit; saws had sawdust. The man worked there.

A makeover crew turned the workshop into Sesame Street. Giant red and white checkers on a polished floor bounced stadium lighting off aluminum cabinets.

The dirt was gone. So were the tools, lumber, and workstations. Designers packed the old garage into pretty bins on shelves high up on the ceiling. Two cars fit with extra room for bicycles and picnic baskets.

My wife cheered. I cried. So did the husband. He couldn’t face the camera. The show’s hostess said he must be too happy to speak. Hi-Fives everyone! 

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’

New political leaders are all alike. They consult. They observe. Then they diagnose. Hopefully, they fix problems that everyone hates.

But sooner than hoped, too many politicians start on their legacy. Continue reading “Dear Government: Please Do Less”

Doctors will always have splinter groups.

This is good. The OMA performs better with friendly competition.

Splinter groups spark debate, keep the OMA sharp, and make medical politics much more interesting than it would be otherwise.

The latest uprising is different in some ways but similar in more. Some high billers are scared. Fear manifests as frustration, even anger. They are tough and used to abuse: politicians label them; colleagues envy them. But this feels different.

The latest relativity discussions are worrisome. A few people push hard for major redistribution. This creates panic. Continue reading “Should We Splinter the OMA?”

Patient care requires privacy. Only patient safety can trump it.

What about doctors’ privacy?

Most voters do not care. They should, but not because doctors do. The public should worry because everything that impacts doctors impacts patient care.

Our society functions on freedom and private property, which includes privacy.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the Right to Privacy in Article 12 and elsewhere. The right to privacy is the right of the individual to decide for himself how much he will share about his personal “thoughts, feelings and the facts about his personal life.” (Scruton p 441)

Western democracies revolve around privacy and civil liberties. See Canada’s Privacy Commissioner  and the USA’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Board .

“Private life [comes] to an end” in Orwellian totalitarianism.

Even The Toronto Star writes, “Canada’s Privacy Commissioner says there’s an urgent need for stronger privacy laws to protect personal information.”

Privacy Versus Publication

Given the primacy of privacy, publication of doctors’ billings must rest on a truly profound argument to justify the attack. Is this an issue of Continue reading “Privacy, Patient Care, and Sunshine Lists”