You and the Broken American Healthcare System
by
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Jay was getting very hungry. He cried. “My stomach hurts,” he said. “Can I just have an apple?” Rose began rubbing his stomach and assured him that we would get him some food. We were talking with him about what he wanted to order when the doctor walked into the room. “Jay is hungry,” I said. “He said his stomach is hurting. You need to give him some nutrition. He has only had sugar water in his IV. He has received no nutritional support for over a week.” The doctor put his pointing finger in the air and motioned for me to come with him into the hall. Then he yelled at me in a whisper, “You don’t get it! Jay is seventy-eight years old. He is dying, dying, dying!” “You don’t get it,” I screamed back. “He is hungry, hungry, hungry. He is asking for food. What are you going to do about it?” “Nothing,” he answered! “Something,” I said. “You surely have a nutrient bag you can hang. My husband needs nutrition.” “I have a nutrient bag that I can hang,” he retorted, “but I am not hanging a $1000 bag of nutrients!” “What’s next then? You will do something,” I demanded. “I can stick a feeding tube down his nose,” he threatened. “Then do it!” I yelled. The doctor huffed into Jay’s room and stood beside his bed. Jay was crying. “Do you want a feeding tube down your nose,” the doctor demanded. Jay looked up at the doctor. His face was full of emotion. It was as if the beggar were soliciting the king. Jay’s eyes said he knew this was the doctor and the doctor was the one who would help him. “Yes,” he answered emphatically! I became nauseated. I saw Jay’s hope in a doctor who wanted to kill him. “I will never, never, get that look out of my head.” I thought. “Jay thinks the doctor wants to help him, to feed him, but I know the doctor just wants him dead!”
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About the Book
You and the Broken American Healthcare System illustrates how one man's medical story reveals America's medical shame!
It describes how the American healthcare system violates every American in some way, providing insight into the problems and solutions. The book is written in four parts, including:
Part 1: An Upstream Family in a Downstream Society describes Jay's personal struggle for life in the hands of a medical system dedicated to expediting his demise.
Part 2: It's All About the Money Honey discusses the money, politics and power in American medicine today. Corruption in Managed care, incetuous relationships among Big Medicine, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, and Big Government are all explored, including gain-sharing, FDA conflict of interests, and Big Pharma's deceptive ploys.
Part 3: The Third Reich in America explores America's slide into pretend science and the potential dangers when elitist power makes America's medical judgements.
This part examines three pseudoscience American studies designed to watch death rather than fight for life, including the men at Tuskegee, babies with spina bifida in Oklahoma, and foster children in seven states.
Part 4: Wake Up and Die Right calls Americans into action. This part gives specific warnings about the potential consequences of America's unrestrained corrupt medical system and outlines steps to recovery.
About the Author
Barbara Silliman is retired from the workforce and lives in Topeka, Kansas. She spent her life in public service and advocating for others.
Barbara has written for enjoyment since childhood, winning many cash awards and other honors. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in commuication from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas.