Unionists Break the Law, Put Patients at Risk

On Wed, Aug 8th, the gargantuan union, Unifor, brought in 100s of unionists from across Ontario and Manitoba to surround a medical clinic in Thunder Bay.

The union has been on strike since April 6th. But this was different.

Unifor strongmen set up fences around all the entrances. Police leave the new unionists alone.

Police want peace, not respect for the law. They refuse to escort doctors into the doctors’ medical offices.

After the fences, many docs worked on electronic medical records from home. They called patients. They used the Home Telehealth app to provide virtual visits. They innovated to provide care.

The courts issued an injunction to stop the illegal activity. Unifor defied it and went further.

On Friday, unionists filled door locks with glue, cut power lines and phone lines, and shut down WiFi.

Now docs have nothing. No way to check lab results. No way to inform patients about critical results. Continue reading “Unionists Break the Law, Put Patients at Risk”

Addicted to Medical Politics – Medicare Obsession Syndrome

Hello, my name is Shawn.

I have Medicare Obsession Syndrome (MOS).

When I told my wife, she laughed harder than expected.

Like most things, everyone knows your problems before you do.

I think other doctors may have the same obsession.

The 12th step says, “Having had a spiritual awakening…we tried to carry this message to [others].”

Medicare Obsession Syndrome

Medicare Obsession Syndrome is not burnout, but can lead to it.

Burnout is a “state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress”.

Burnout often comes in jobs where workers feel “overworked and undervalued” with little sense of control.

Dr. Pamela Wible says physicians are experiencing abuse, not burnout.

Medicare Obsession Syndrome is an unrelenting, all encompassing, life consuming, every-waking-minute addiction to thinking about medical politics. Continue reading “Addicted to Medical Politics – Medicare Obsession Syndrome”

Sad Stories Make Bad Policy – Activism

A dead Syrian toddler broke our hearts in 2015. He sparked a wave of compassionate activism.

A crying toddler at the US-Mexico border crushed us in 2018 and sparked a new wave.

Crying children make us cry; they move us to help. And so they should.

But most crying children go unnoticed and never warrant a peep from media.   

We learned later that the border-child had not lost its mother. Mom was there. But this was a special crying child. She was a signal, a beacon.

This child must be listened to. She represented a more important fact, even though the picture did not show the trauma we assumed it did. Continue reading “Sad Stories Make Bad Policy – Activism”