George McGovern on health care reform

This newspaper article by former Sen. George McGovern is very good. Needless to say, I agree with it. McGovern favors Medicare for all. He points out that the idea is having trouble with congress because the powerful insurance lobby is "too powerful to resist."
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/guest/article_255d23c6-a2f2-11de-bcb1-001cc4c03286.html

In my opinion, as long as insurance companies call the shots, universal access to medical care is not likely to happen.

Oprah, Suzanne Somers and Hormones

There has been a brouhaha lately about a recent program on the Oprah Show, in which actress Suzanne Somers talked about how wonderful she feels after taking bio-identical hormones for post-menopause symptoms. This week’s Newsweek has an article that slams the show and the Somers point of view.

Now here is another commentary from Dr. Mercola’s blog. It points out that one of the writers of the anti-Somers, anti-Oprah article has authored a book on hormones (presumably not bio-identical), and Newsweek has drug companies as advertisers. It’s hard to be objective with these other interests, in my opinion.

The blog posting is here, along with a link to the Newsweek article.
http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2009/06/03/Media-Blast-Oprah-for-Supporting-Alternative-Medicine.aspx

I watched the Oprah Show that is discussed in the article and blog posting, and I found it interesting. I think the Newsweek article doesn’t do justice to it; to me it had an angry tone. I need to remind myself that Newsweek and other news magazines do a lot of interpretation and commentary, and less news reporting than they once did. Suzanne Somers might even be right. In any case, she started the therapy because she felt very unwell (she documents this in her books), and now she says she feels great.

I feel fine without bio-identical menopause hormones, but I don’t condemn others for making choices that make them feel better, if they are safe.

Reasonable Medical Care For All?

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/451131

The Capitol Times and YouTube comment: the hearings on medical care for Americans have excluded people who want single payer care while welcoming the for profit medical industry. Is this Change We Can Believe In?

Read on....

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/letters/450710

Here is another example of how the American system of “health” insurance fails people. If they can't afford the insurance, they can have dire consequences.