(Snippets from the frontline)
COVID-19: The learning curve
Medical professionals are on a learning curve as the coronavirus is highly contagious and has no treatment. Six months into this battle, money is being poured into treatment offering hope for those who are seriously ill.
Unfortunately, as in the past, physicians are seeing their decision-making usurped by business.
At some hospitals, patient care quality is of the utmost importance. Whereas at others, treatment for ill patients is limited by administrative salaries, bonuses, and retirement packages.
Presently, convalescent plasma, remdesivir, and IL-6 seem to positively improve patient status, and government pays for experimental use. Apparently, if hospitals don’t use these treatments, they still get payed. Not using them puts money into the hospital pocket.
Therefore, some hospital administrators are dissuading doctors from applying for these treatments and putting up red tape barriers. As well, consistent with past behavior, they hastily place older patients on hospice, eliminating all treatment even though they have been payed.
Finding out which hospital you can trust is not an easy task. Asking contracted hospital doctors might not be a reliable source, though examining mortality or hospice transfer statistics might help with your decision-making.
It’s your turn to be on the learning curve.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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