@VulgarKitten said:
Today's Hate: Why is there no cam copy of Magic Mike XXL for us agoraphobes??
Suffer! People who perpetuate the cam release scene should all suffer.
Not that I've got anything against piracy, but cams? Ugh. Wait for the BR rip. Watching cams is like eating cockroaches. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
@HelloRaptor said:
@VulgarKitten said:
Today's Hate: Why is there no cam copy of Magic Mike XXL for us agoraphobes??
Suffer! People who perpetuate the cam release scene should all suffer.
Not that I've got anything against piracy, but cams? Ugh. Wait for the BR rip. Watching cams is like eating cockroaches. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
I have watched precisely 20 minutes of one cam thing ever, and I went for that option deliberately.
...it made those twenty minutes of 50 Shades of Gray almost tolerable since I secretly wanted to hear how much the audience was laughing.
It was rather a lot.
It still couldn't get me any further into that trainwreck, but the amount of heckling and snickering (it was really, really rather a lot) was intensely gratifying.
@SG I get these. One in particular:
Co-Irker: WHY AREN'T YOU IN SINGAPORE GIVING A PRESENTATION? (Background: We have a Singapore office where allegedly people go but you've never met anyone at work who has actually gone that isn't the CEO but for some reason, there's some weird social premium on getting sent to that office. Idk either.)
Me: .... I uh, what?
Co-Irker: YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN SINGAPORE GIVING A PRESENTATION NOW BECAUSE DIOHNJWEORIENODNSIOHJDOKINOIDN (this is the part where they start speaking another language I don't understand)
I then spend the rest of the dream trying to get make a powerpoint (doesn't work), get out of the building (can't find my way out), get to the airport (don't remember how to get there/can't/traffic), can't understand anyone (they all speak some other language), etc.
@HelloRaptor said:
I can't find any references to Sea-Med or to this alternative to balloon angioplasty you mentioned.
Really? Because it took me two googles and a couple of click-throughs worth of effort to find out that the company was called 'SeaMED' and got acquired by and folded into Plexus Corp, and the device was called the Rotoblator Rotational Angioplasty System, whose patent was sold to and is now held by the Boston Scientific Corporation.
From other articles it looks as if it's not strictly an alternative in the sense that a lot of doctors aren't trained in its use anywhere but in the US, and even in the US the balloon method is still pretty common because the rotational system requires a lot of training, and the original method 'works well enough'.
I will admit to conformational bias. My bias is, frankly, that much of the time you're just talking shit.
Maybe you're bad at google? That or you just didn't try very hard because you just wanted an excuse to justify your knee jerk attack on somebody who dared to criticize the Canadian health care system.
This isn't Canadian boosterism as much as it is that I think Shebakoby often repeats half-understood things as gospel truth, and I've thought that for a while. This was just something that seemed worth calling him/her out on.
I honestly didn't find "SeaMED" because I was preserving the space in the name. Once I didn't find that, I started looking for angioplasty alternatives and found nothing. I'm glad you found references to the Rotablator when I couldn't, though part of the problem I had was that the device wasn't developed by SeaMED but instead by Heart Technology, which was bought by Boston Scientific. SeaMED just did/does instrument assembly: http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=480403.
Still, what Shebakoby said was that "Canada still doesn't have this [Rotablator] technology" as proof for the statement, "There's maybe only one thing that the US system, as flawed as it is, has over the Canadian system. Money available for R&D." There's no direct relationship between these two things. This technology has been researched and developed, and what I read says that it is an alternative when stenting is not effective (though it sounds like it's tricky - a 2010 article talked about having to do emergency surgery after the drive shaft broke off in a patient's coronary artery). It could be that it's not used in Canada because it's thought to be too expensive, or only used at major medical centers because of the difficulty or the cost, or any number of other things, some of which certainly would point to flaws in the Canadian health system. What was offered as evidence, though, doesn't match that.
@HelloRaptor Taaaaaakes sooooooo looooooooong
@BetterJudgment said:
Hypnagogia and sleep paralysis suck. I've had them both periodically since I was around four years old.
My nightmares are always similar. I dream that I'm in my house, alone, and it is dark. I walk over to switch on a light--the switch doesn't work. I try several others--they don't work. I realize that the darkness is intentional and threatening, and that I cannot do anything about it. Back when I had a television, this would generally be joined by the television (which cannot be turned off) playing something full of static that shows talking figures at desks talking about how something is going to happen to me. At its worst, the dream ends with me lying in bed, paralyzed as if crushed under a heavy weight and unable to breathe.
I have trained myself to recognize that when light switches don't work and I'm seeing the world in this twilight, distorted state, then it's "another one of those damn dreams." That used to immediately increase how threatening things felt, but now it makes it bearable instead.
Sleep paralysis fucking blows. Happens to me from time to time. Usually if I sleep sitting up and my head falls forward, I cant lift my head, feel like I'm suffocating. Or laying down, always feel like someone is there, and i'm asking them to shake me to wake me up, but they cant understand me... shudder
@VulgarKitten said:
@HelloRaptor Taaaaaakes sooooooo looooooooong
Keep your knickers on or take them off, but don't perpetuate the CamLife!
@Shebakoby said:
There's maybe only one thing that the US system, as flawed as it is, has over the Canadian system. Money available for R&D. * * *
Canada still doesn't have this technology.
It's entirely possible that the technology you've suggested isn't commercially viable. While the process may be superior to balloon angioplasty, there may still be a cost-benefit issue. It's more than probable that the reason no province has approved of the procedure is because the benefit is substantially outweighed by the cost. An efficient system does not always use the best available technology.
Some fear that any 'taint' of "private money" (rather than from tax dollars), including charitable donations (which is CRAZY to oppose), in the health system will ruin it forever, but we could have had a CT scanner way sooner than we did if they weren't so ideologically rigid and stubborn.
In the United States, some fear that the "taint" of "government" in the health system will ruin it forever. What those people probably don't understand is that an unaccountable oligopoly is probably as bad, if not worse, than what "government" could ever do. This is demonstrably the case based on available information.
Again, as far as access and efficiency is concerned, Canada wins.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
@SG
Worse then work dreams. I have not been in college for over a decade and I still get the oh crap I have a final for a class I haven't ever been to dreams. Seriously brain, I have my two degrees and I am never going back you can stop with that dream.
@Ganymede said:
@Shebakoby said:
There's maybe only one thing that the US system, as flawed as it is, has over the Canadian system. Money available for R&D. * * *
Canada still doesn't have this technology.
It's entirely possible that the technology you've suggested isn't commercially viable. While the process may be superior to balloon angioplasty, there may still be a cost-benefit issue. It's more than probable that the reason no province has approved of the procedure is because the benefit is substantially outweighed by the cost. An efficient system does not always use the best available technology.
While his specific example is perhaps poorly formed, the leading statement he made isn't, really. The US health care system has had many, many, many, many, many flaws, but the 'private money' thrown at medical R&D isn't exactly one of them. Sort of. For a very long time the US has been the primary source of new drugs, tech, and procedures, vastly ahead of any competing nation (or continent for that matter, which is a weird comparison that gets made).
Canada, the UK, Japan, nobody has come close to the amount of money and resources the private sector in the US throws at medical R&D. The problem with that being that since they frequently have control over the research and early results, companies can (and have) put a boot on cheaper, more effective drugs, procedures, etc because it might cost them money. Less than people often think, but it happens.
Even with that, though, the investment of private money into medical research in the US has basically advanced and refined medicine and health care globally on a level well beyond any other contributing nations. Supposedly that's starting to change, but it's still true today. Part of it is just how much money the private sector in the US has to throw around, but part of it (which is what I believe he was getting at) is that countries that want to avoid private investment in health care... well, they want to avoid private investment in health care.
A lot of the hype over Canadian doctors 'defecting' to the US to practice is nonsense, but it's marginally more true when you're talking about doctors who want to work on developing new or refining old. Either is very expensive, and you're far more likely to find funding in the US, if you're willing to accept the risks involved (a corporate entity having a stake in your work, and the ability to strangle it if they find it necessary).
Disclaimer: I think the US health care system pre-Obamacare is pretty shit. Even post-Obamacare, for a lot of folks (like me). I am not a knee-jerk MURICA IS THE GREATEST sort, nor hyper critical of the Canadian system (though I have been in the past, when I lived in Alaska, due to RL friends with bad experiences).
Briefly, I concur that there's more private funding available in the United States. I also concur that the funding to research has advanced and defined medicine and health care on a global level. However, there is no causal link between private investment into health care and the existence of a joint public-private insurance system, which is what the United States has.
I would argue that there is greater private investment into research and development across the board in the United States as a result of the massive amount of public funding into research and development, and the existence of corporate-friendly intellectual property and patent laws.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
@Ganymede It's true there's no simple causal link between forms of health care and money into R&D; it's simply a matter of what the government allows or does not allow. If a government is composed of individuals who frown on certain things, certain kinds of private investment will be curtailed or otherwise restricted based on a myriad of reasons. Canada just happens to have a system where there are such restrictions (such as not letting people donate CT scanners if the provincial government of the day doesn't feel like allowing it based on what they think Canadian Health Care should be).
Canada has price controls on medication, and relies heavily on generics as well, in some cases some Provinces will not cover a name brand medication if a generic is available (certain exceptions can be made if a person is allergic to nonmedicinal filler variant ingredients in a generic). I have to wonder where drug companies are making up the difference in order to stay in business. Price controls would certainly put a damper on new drug research in Canada, unless a manufacturer could produce it relatively cheaply to fit under the price control.
I have heard that Britain has a joint private-public system but its emphasis is the reverse of the United States (public first, private secondary as an afterthought) and that it works reasonably well because while everybody's covered by the public British system, there's the option to use private care if someone wishes to for reasons of speed of care. It's my understanding that all other flaws aside, speed of care is VERY quick in USA, compared to Canada (but I don't know how it stacks up against any other country's system). I do recall one time over a decade ago the governor of Oregon was in town for something, and some reporter asked him about how long health care waiting list times were in Oregon. The man was competely confused. He was like "Waiting list times, what are those even?" He didn't even know such a concept existed.
In any case Canada doesn't cover such things as dental or prescription drugs unless an individual is on government assistance; for most people this must be covered by private insurance (like say, Pacific Blue Cross) either bought on one's own, or via an employer. So some private coverage/insurance is tolerated.
I'm spooning a Barrett .50 cal.! I could kill a building.
@Shebakoby said:
I have to wonder where drug companies are making up the difference in order to stay in business. Price controls would certainly put a damper on new drug research in Canada, unless a manufacturer could produce it relatively cheaply to fit under the price control.
They are price-gouging the fuck out of the Americans, that's where. What the drug companies won't tell you is that several of them are heavily-invested in a variety of generic manufacturers. So, the generics aren't really competing against them: they are actually demonstrating how badly American consumers are getting price-gouged.
I do recall one time over a decade ago the governor of Oregon was in town for something, and some reporter asked him about how long health care waiting list times were in Oregon. The man was competely confused. He was like "Waiting list times, what are those even?" He didn't even know such a concept existed.
I didn't know they existed when I lived in Canada for 23 years. I only came upon them when I came to the United States.
The reason is simple: whereas Canadian hospitals have bed shortages, American hospitals usually do not. American hospitals are owned by private companies that are attempting to eat each other's market share. It is in their interests to make sure that their hospitals are not at capacity, and this results in higher costs per patient. In Canada, there's more of an interest in keeping the hospitals at over-capacity for efficiency reasons.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
There are bed shortages. Even at regional places serving metropolitican and rural areas. Ran into them for my mother and father in law over the last few years.
@Ganymede said:
@Shebakoby said:
I have to wonder where drug companies are making up the difference in order to stay in business. Price controls would certainly put a damper on new drug research in Canada, unless a manufacturer could produce it relatively cheaply to fit under the price control.
They are price-gouging the fuck out of the Americans, that's where. What the drug companies won't tell you is that several of them are heavily-invested in a variety of generic manufacturers. So, the generics aren't really competing against them: they are actually demonstrating how badly American consumers are getting price-gouged.
I do recall one time over a decade ago the governor of Oregon was in town for something, and some reporter asked him about how long health care waiting list times were in Oregon. The man was competely confused. He was like "Waiting list times, what are those even?" He didn't even know such a concept existed.
I didn't know they existed when I lived in Canada for 23 years. I only came upon them when I came to the United States.
The reason is simple: whereas Canadian hospitals have bed shortages, American hospitals usually do not. American hospitals are owned by private companies that are attempting to eat each other's market share. It is in their interests to make sure that their hospitals are not at capacity, and this results in higher costs per patient. In Canada, there's more of an interest in keeping the hospitals at over-capacity for efficiency reasons.
Oh. Interesting. So, if Canada wasn't having price controls, would Americans be as badly gouged in drug prices, then? 
Also which 23 years were you living in Canada? If it was really long ago and in a major Eastern Canadian metropolitan center, I'm not surprised you didn't see bed shortages. And the waitlist wasn't as long, either.
I'm spooning a Barrett .50 cal.! I could kill a building.
@Shebakoby said:
Oh. Interesting. So, if Canada wasn't having price controls, would Americans be as badly gouged in drug prices, then?
All signs point to yes. If you look at gas prices for an example it becomes fairly clear: if they could get away with it yesterday, they will try to get away with it today and tomorrow.
Oh fucking well.
@surreality said:
@Shebakoby said:
Oh. Interesting. So, if Canada wasn't having price controls, would Americans be as badly gouged in drug prices, then?
All signs point to yes. If you look at gas prices for an example it becomes fairly clear: if they could get away with it yesterday, they will try to get away with it today and tomorrow.
Gas prices in Canada are about almost half from gas tax from various levels of government.
I'm spooning a Barrett .50 cal.! I could kill a building.
@Shebakoby said:
@surreality said:
@Shebakoby said:
Oh. Interesting. So, if Canada wasn't having price controls, would Americans be as badly gouged in drug prices, then?
All signs point to yes. If you look at gas prices for an example it becomes fairly clear: if they could get away with it yesterday, they will try to get away with it today and tomorrow.
Gas prices in Canada are mostly gas tax from various levels of government.
...I'm not talking about gas prices in Canada.
Oh fucking well.
@Shebakoby said:
Also which 23 years were you living in Canada? If it was really long ago and in a major Eastern Canadian metropolitan center, I'm not surprised you didn't see bed shortages.
I said the opposite, actually.
I lived actively in the Toronto area from 1979 to 2003. I technically still live in that part of Canada, for I maintain my residence with my parents'.
There are bed shortages in Canada, but that's part of the way the system is calculated to operate.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
@Ganymede said:
@Shebakoby said:
Also which 23 years were you living in Canada? If it was really long ago and in a major Eastern Canadian metropolitan center, I'm not surprised you didn't see bed shortages.
I said the opposite, actually.
I lived actively in the Toronto area from 1979 to 2003. I technically still live in that part of Canada, for I maintain my residence with my parents'.
There are bed shortages in Canada, but that's part of the way the system is calculated to operate.
oh ok i must have read that wrong.
@VulgarKitten said:
Today's Hate: Why is there no cam copy of Magic Mike XXL for us agoraphobes??
Suffer! People who perpetuate the cam release scene should all suffer.
Not that I've got anything against piracy, but cams? Ugh. Wait for the BR rip. Watching cams is like eating cockroaches. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
