[KS] Re: Doctor's Strike

[k u s h i b o]

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sunwukong wrote:
> I was directly inconvenienced by this strike.  My son takes medication
> for high blood pressure and it was a bear getting his refils.  All the
> folks in line were cursing KDJ for the policy change.  But I think it
> makes sense.  Dr examines paitent, perscribes medicine. Pharmicist fills
> perscription based on doctors best guess at what is good for the
> paitent.  With Drs filling perscriptions I doubt that they were always
> thinking foremost of the paitents needs.  Without a doubt medicines are
> outrageously expensive.  That may change as more pharacudical companies
> come on line.

Definitely a touchy subject. Among myriad other tasks, I do a kind of
"person on the street" interview segment (in English) for our mom-and-pop
TV/radio network; each week we ask native English speakers and Koreans with
a strong command of English their detailed thoughts about some current
issue. This past Wednesday the topic was the doctor's strike.

Most of the interviewees were angry or upset with the doctors, citing the
Hippocratic Oath, the reported deaths during the last strike, and the
general opinion that doctors are not in a typical profession and so
shouldn't engage in such a wide-ranging strike.

I did get a couple people with relatives in the medical field to express
sympathy with the doctors, suggesting that the new system hinders their
ability to make a reasonable living, considering the personal and financial
sacrifice they make.

I also delved into what I consider the crux of the issue: the need to
eliminate misdiagnosis due to lack of examination and the over-use or abuse
of medication.

Boy was there hell to pay. The doctors came out in force on our home page's
bulletin board, complaining that I and the host of the show were one-sided,
were ignorant about the true facts of the issue, and appeared to have been
influenced (even coerced) by the government in to saying what we said.

We reminded these listeners that we were merely presenting the opinions of
the average Joe and Jane, and that we were in no way passing this off as an
exhaustive analysis of the issue.

My point being that this is a very touchy issue, and while the government's
goal may be a noble one, this involves a huge shake-up of the status quo,
and we don't know how it's going to turn out.

Stay healthy, everyone. Take =BE=C8=B3=E7=C7=CF=BC=BC=BF=E4 literally.

K U S H I B O