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01/23/2004 Entry: "third world"

My mom calls me today to tell me that she just got back from El Salvador. She took my grandmother to get an operation on her knees.
El Salvador is definitely considered the third world. It is a developing nation that has struggled to climb out of the corruption and poverty following years of US backed civil war. In the midst of all of this my grandmother goes to El Salvador frequently to see doctors. The doctors in the US are always prescribing her medications that make her ill or give rise to other health problems. She goes to El Salvador to here an unbiased, unpurchased opinion. The doctors in the here are always trying to peddle some medicine or another. They get kickbacks from drug companies and payments from insurers based on what they do, not on the health of the patient. Prescribing something during a check up means more money for them. No prescription or intrusive test means no money.
My grandmother just got knee surgery in El Salvador. Laser knee surgery. They made two small incisions on the sides of her knee, burned away the cartilage that had been eroded by arthritis and replaced it with injections of new cartilage to act as a cushion. Those injections of chicken cartilage were manufactured in nearby New Jersey. The doctor even showed my grandmother the box and the price on the side. After the surgery the doctor pulls out a cd from his laptop and hands it to my mother. He says here is the operation on DVD. All of this sounds expensive doesn't it. An operation like that here would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Why the shots from jersey alone would probably cost a grand each, if not more. Yet my grandmother only paid two thousand dollars for the entire operation, the injections ended up being $160 dollars a piece and the DVD was thrown in for free. Where are you gonna get that done in the first world. How are you gonna pay for your knees without giving up an arm or a leg? Wouldn't it be nice if every old lady that hobbled on the cold New York sidewalks could get their lives of mobility and freedom back for so little a cost. Aren't we the greatest nation on earth.

Replies: 1 Comment

preach brother!
the stereotype is that you never go to south american countries for medicine. In fact it's assumed that any place outside of the united states is in the stone age and thus unsafe. AS I get older I'm seriously contemplating whether or not I want to raise kids in this country. I was always raised to not take drugs and not trust doctors but this bullshit gets supported by our jobs who require us to see doctor to validate our sickness. These doctors barely even diagnose before they start pushing pills. It's ridiculous! Just as M.C. he'll go of on a rant about this

Posted by diane @ 01/25/2004 11:29 AM EST