Whose Health is it Anyway?

Health care and the working stiff--it's enough to make you sick. These two doctors I've seen have refused to fill out the paperwork required by my employer for a paid medical Leave of Absence. So it becomes an unpaid leave, which means without income. No income means I can't pay my health care premiums, so I'll lose my benefits. Very soon I'll join that elite group of over 40 million Americans Without Health Insurance.

The way the last doctor treated me made me feel violated. I showed up early for the appointment, and was kept waiting more than an hour. By the time I finally saw this doctor my normally low blood pressure had shot up higher than it's ever been. He was loud, angry, hostile; asked me if I was "married." I said, "What's that got to do with anything?" If he'd bothered to read the patient questionaire I had to bring to the appointment, he'd know the answer anyway.

Then he asked if I had a history of depression, insinuating I guess, that my liver condition is all in my mind? So I told him no, haven't been officially diagnosed, but yeah it is depressing to be told I have to "swallow" whatever the MD gods decide is best for me--even when my own instincts scream: NO!

And it's depressing to be treated like a non-person, like I can't educate myself, make informed decisions about my own health. Basically this doctor told me that if I choose not to inject myself with the currently accepted (by the mainstream medical establishment) costly, scary side effects causing chemical treatment, then I'm "refusing treatment" and he refuses to fill out my leave of absence papers.

Refusing what? I don't smoke, drink, or use any drugs, including over the counter. I adhere to a vegan diet, and exercise several times weekly. Is that not treatment? Why is dosing oneself with powerful chemicals the only way to treat a disease? Mainstream medicine is slow to accept "new" treatments, especially those that can't be patented by a drug company. They call it "alternative," but acupuncture and herbal medicine have been used in Asia for hundreds of years. There's more info at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture.

There was a time, not so many years ago, when chiropractic care was viewed as not quite legit. Now it's considered "conservative."