As the husband of someone who suffers from a severe, chronic pain syndrome in the aftermath of a car accident, I’ve had a bit of a personal interest in following the aftermath and investigation into the causes of Michael Jackson’s death.
Yesterday saw the public announcement that MJ’s death was being deemed a homicide, and that the powerful sedative propfol was being declared the instrument of murder. However, a post at KevinMD adds a different spin:
And finally, this case highlights the risks of treating celebrity patients. Michael Jackson was calling the shots, and despite Dr. Murray’s reservations, he still received the drugs he requested. Had Dr. Murray refused, he probably would have been fired and replaced.
Celebrity rehab specialist Drew Pinsky says it best: “There is not a separate diagnostic manual for celebrities. These are just people. They are just patients. And if you feel yourself overlooking things or making exceptions, these are huge mistakes. You have to realize that the standard of care is the standard because it’s the best, and if you start offering special care you are probably going to do substandard care.”
I can see the author’s point. However one of the most frustrating, even infuriating things my wife and I have experienced in her treatment is the seeming lack of responsiveness we’ve had from so many doctors. True, that seeming non-responsiveness is probably in no small part caused by the complexity of my wife’s case and the limits of the current state-of-the-art in medicine. However, all too often we feel that we have to drive and direct treatment, because it’s so damned difficult to find a doctor who will consistently do so.
We love her doctors, mind you…and we’ve replaced those who just didn’t seem to work for her. However, the system isn’t really designed to support complex cases as my wife’s. So, we end up being passed back and forth among specialists, since the system constrains their practices to certain limited areas, and constrains her PCP to generalists. Combine that with the seeming loss of the art of communication…
Is it any surprise that I get so frustrated that the current “health care reform” debate has degenerated to the quest to provide health insurance to everyone, while at best only paying lip service to the real challenges that we seem not to want to face?
