Escape Fire Analysis
Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
The documentary, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, criticizes the current healthcare system designed for profit maximization, a physician’s dilemma between financial incentives and professionalism, and quick fixes rather than prevention of illness. The U.S. government spends $2.7 trillion annually on healthcare, and pharmaceutical drugs account for $300 billion, almost as much as the rest of the world combined (Escape Fire). The mindset that drugs are the only appropriate way to treat disease is invalid. Physician salaries are driven by the number of treatments and drugs that are prescribed and administered. The U.S. healthcare system is a business model where economic …show more content…
Many times, doctors order medical procedures and drugs without thinking twice about the need. For example, Yvonne Osborn complained of severe chest pain which led to a heart attack. In a few years, she underwent twenty-seven cardiac catheterizations and over seven heart stents. When Yvonne turned to Cleveland Clinic as her last resort, Dr. Leslie Cho concluded that prior control of Yvonne’s diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol would have eliminated many catheterizations and stents. Lack of communication between the physician and the patient permitted financial gains for the doctor(s) who performed the surgical procedures for Yvonne. The physical and emotional distress Yvonne endured is far more important than the combined cost of care over the years of $1.5 million. Dr. Cho states, “But it’s more than the costs. It’s just so much more than the money. The psychological trauma of every one of those multiple cardiac catheterizations…every time she had a chest pain coming into the ER…And unfortunately, there are lots of Yvonnes out there” (Escape Fire). Dr. Cho is absolutely right. The body can only handle so much strain, and if unnecessary procedures are preventable, then financial incentives should not drive potential harm to the
The documentary, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, criticizes the current healthcare system designed for profit maximization, a physician’s dilemma between financial incentives and professionalism, and quick fixes rather than prevention of illness. The U.S. government spends $2.7 trillion annually on healthcare, and pharmaceutical drugs account for $300 billion, almost as much as the rest of the world combined (Escape Fire). The mindset that drugs are the only appropriate way to treat disease is invalid. Physician salaries are driven by the number of treatments and drugs that are prescribed and administered. The U.S. healthcare system is a business model where economic …show more content…
Many times, doctors order medical procedures and drugs without thinking twice about the need. For example, Yvonne Osborn complained of severe chest pain which led to a heart attack. In a few years, she underwent twenty-seven cardiac catheterizations and over seven heart stents. When Yvonne turned to Cleveland Clinic as her last resort, Dr. Leslie Cho concluded that prior control of Yvonne’s diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol would have eliminated many catheterizations and stents. Lack of communication between the physician and the patient permitted financial gains for the doctor(s) who performed the surgical procedures for Yvonne. The physical and emotional distress Yvonne endured is far more important than the combined cost of care over the years of $1.5 million. Dr. Cho states, “But it’s more than the costs. It’s just so much more than the money. The psychological trauma of every one of those multiple cardiac catheterizations…every time she had a chest pain coming into the ER…And unfortunately, there are lots of Yvonnes out there” (Escape Fire). Dr. Cho is absolutely right. The body can only handle so much strain, and if unnecessary procedures are preventable, then financial incentives should not drive potential harm to the