In 1984, my good friend and yours, Senator AlGore, was able to pass the prohibition of sale of organs for transplants in the United States. Currently, the average cost of dialysis per patient is $80,000 per year. The cost of a kidney transplant is $30,00 per year on the high end. My first comment is that the hospital, physicians(surgeons, etc), nurses, are making a fortune off the kidney transplant. It seems extremely hypocritical that donors should not be able to be paid. If the donor was paid, the taxpayer would still come out far ahead in costs over a lifetime. Individuals with transplants would be able to work and pay taxes. Have you ever wondered why 99% of people have two kidneys instead of one? Most Nephrologists have told me that many people live normal lives on one kidney.
As a Milton Freidman trained Economist, I am very pro-free market and pro-profit. Yes, ObamaCare is going to be a disaster. I am advocating using the free market to solve this very serious problem. When I hear Davita cry that they do not make enough money, I have to laugh, the Davita stock price is $110.63 per share(1-15-2013)http://quotes.wsj.com/DVA?mod=DNH_S_cq. When I saw a picture of their corporate headquarters, I laughed even harder. If you are curious, the Davita stock price is much higher than the stock price of Toyota, Wal-Mart, and many other major American corporations, think Coke, etc. The Coke stock price is $66.10 per share http://quotes.wsj.com/COKE?mod=DNH_S_cq
No, dialysis nurses are not compensated for what they do in the dialysis clinic. It angers me to no end to see dialysis nurses not being given the proper supplies to help the dialysis patient, while Thiry and friends run off to their latest corporate junket. It does not bother me that Thiry or the DaVita executives make a nice profit. What does anger me is that the people on the front lines, such as the RN and patients are being left to suffer. Thiry has stated in public that patients do not matter at Davita and from five years of experience, I know he is telling the truth. Does it bother Thiry that he is giving a treatment that he would not use for himself or his family? Nurses are being made to work in a impossible situation, they are being asked to drink warm water, while Thiry and pals are drinking wine. For the record, I hate wine.
To state or imply by Thiry and pals that someone should be able to take off 48 hours of fluid in 3-4 hours is insane, Thiry’s body does not work in that fashion, nor does the body of anyone else. He is using a business model that does not apply or work in dialysis, the real world, or anywhere else.
Does Thiry and cronies work for free? Basically, he and his crowd think that the kidney donor should work for free, but, he does not work for free, he works for millions. You would not believe the number of people in dialysis who think they should make a fortune, while the kidney donor should work for free and the dialysis patients who live without a kidney, suffer, 24/7.
If Thiry and his crowd were providing the proper care, I could and would care less about him and his millions, along with his entire crowd. How much of a house or car would Thiry get for the cost of zero??? Zero equals zero, he would not get a car or a house for the cost of zero and this is why there is a major shortage of kidneys, simple and basic economics.
Would Thiry and his family, pals, or anyone else be willing to live as he dictates it to other people? What makes him competent with no training to tell other people who to live???
I am curious, tell me, what was the track record of prohibition in the 1930’s? What is the track record of the “War on Drugs?” As a former police officer, the track record of that war is a miserable failure, I know, I lived it. Crusaders cannot accept the fact that they, nor anyone else, is qualified to tell other people how to live. Yes, when the Prohibtion amendment was passed, it was a crowning achievement, how did that turn out in the long run? Dialysis Crusaders cannot accept the fact that they are not God and kidney donors and the dialysis patients are not their children.
Thiry and friends should not cry and complain when they do not have enough private insurance patients, when it is their corporate policy creating the issue and problems. I think a great idea would be to have night time dialysis with Thiry and pals right on the front lines assisting.