Holy Rant, Batman!

Did you know that medical harm is the third leading cause of death in this country? Holy shit, right? It's behind cardiac disease (1) and cancer (3). This is astounding to me. I learned this recently in some research I was doing for class.

Then today, I saw this article saying that about 19,000 peopled died in 2005 from a fucking gross staph infection that they picked up WHILE IN THE FREAKING HOSPITAL!! That would be more people than died of AIDS in 2005 (about 15,000). Wowzers. People are going to the hospital and leaving no better off (or WORSE) when they leave.

I could go on about how medical harm on this scale is endemic of our current F-ed up system of health care. About how in our private insurer/private provider model, profits are valued over patients by both insurers AND providers, with no one to give a shit about individual patients except individual patients (and their lawyers). Or about how trial lawyers claim to provide justice and stand up for the little guy who gets screwed by big hospital/big insurer... but have yet to actually stop the increasing costs of care or improved quality of care in any marked way or decrease the numbers of those getting harmed in our hospitals every year. But I will spare you all of that, and just say shit is fucked.

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!!

[insert obligatory stock Che pic here]