New Health Care Initiative? How about Racism and Medicine?

(originally published 2/24/09) "By 1938, the situation had grown so dire that Dr. Louis T. Wright of Harlem Hospital declared, “The A.M.A. has demonstrated as much interest in the health of the Negro as Hitler has in the health of the Jew.”




Dear friends,

The piece on the link below came out last year (2008). However, I deliberately waited to post the link to it on this blog until President Obama was in office. Our health care system suffers from far more than simply how the businesses that run the aforementioned system get paid. Moreover, aside from the fact that mental health is not covered in the same context as its physical counterpart, when, at least, as much of both our personal and social maladies emanate from our mentally unhealthy society, the persistence of racism in the way that many are cared for - and by whom, should be addressed. Is that a problem for an African American president? If so, why?

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/health/views/29essa.html?ex=1218254400&en=86180c2260b5574c&ei=5070&emc=eta1 Read full post

a Superb 55 minutes-long taped audio lecture that distinguishes "health" from "Health care"

Please click on the link below
http://folktales.net/BEZS006_Dying.mp3 Read full post

"I Will Follow" - a new road to African American cinema as a functional art form?

"Apparently, it has received some rave reviews. Yet, that in and of itself means nothing to me, because I've known very insulting films either made by and/or starring our actors that have been given acclaim - like the pathetic 'Precious'."

Dear friends,

I received an email today, regarding an African American-produced film about which I've been hearing called "I Will Follow". Apparently, it has received some rave reviews. Yet, that in and of itself means nothing to me, because I've known very insulting films either made by and/or starring our actors that have been given acclaim - like the pathetic "Precious". However, the brief video interview on the link below has captured my interest. I intend to see it.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOiuV6uYvas&feature=channel_video_title
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Is Annette John-Hall un-American?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/20100219_Annette_John-Hall__Un-American__Well__let_s_see______.html
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Important Information about Heart Attacks!!!

"Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack..."

Dear friends,

The info below was sent to me by a dear friend the other day via e-mail. Please consider copying then pasting the info to friends and other loved ones.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
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This may prove useful.

Subject: Heart Attack

Bayer is making crystal aspirin to dissolve under the tongue. They work much faster than the tablets.

Why keep aspirin by your bedside?

About Heart Attacks:

There are other symptoms of an heart attack besides the pain on the left arm. One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well as nausea and lots of sweating, however these symptoms may also occur less frequently.

Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack. The majority of people (about 60%) who had a heart attack during their sleep, did not wake up. However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep.

If that happens, immediately dissolve two aspirins in your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water.

Afterwards: - phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by - say "heart attack!" - say that you have taken 2 aspirins.. - take a seat on a chair or sofa near the front door, and wait for their arrival and... ~ Do NOT lie down ~

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A Cardiologist has stated that, if each person, after receiving this e-mail, sends it to 10 people, probably one life can be saved!

I have already shared the information- - What about you?

Do forward this message: it may save a friend's life!
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Annette John-Hall on Double Standard of Health Care Debate

"Or publicly praying for Obama's death, as did Orange County minister Wiley Drake, who must be thrilled that death threats against the president have gone up 400 percent from the last administration."

Dear friends,

It is interesting to see that President Obama is always being threatened, in public, mind you, while past presidents have never had to experience such disrespect. As a matter of fact, I thought that it was illegal to threaten the life of a sitting president. Is this a double standard?

At any rate, on the link below, Annette John-Hall of the Philadelphia Inquirer raises some pertinent questions.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/annette_john-hall/20090920_Annette_John-Hall__Infected_by_racism__criticism_of_Obama_obscures_the_issues.html
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Doctors versus Hospital Administrators

“Some stories are best told by numbers.”

Dear friends,

As the “Health Care Reform” bill passes through the US Congress we see that a plethora of “human inadequacies” are being revealed by these politicians, with their thought patterns. That is, they are displaying shortcomings that. as the great Freud pointed out, come from “short-sighted apprehensiveness to selfishly narrow interests to conclusions that are based on insufficient premises.”

Meanwhile, as usual, in finding humor in their abovementioned inadequacies, in general, agents of White Supremacy (euphemistically called “racism”) make jokes about the harangue by Senator Wilson of South Carolina, “That’s a lie!”, during President Obama’s recent speech regarding “Health Care Reform”.

In any case, on the link below, Stephanie Kraft, a distinguished western Massachusetts journalist, delivers a very short, but informative, piece about the inequities that are involved during the attempts by doctors to settle their patients’ claims, while outnumbered, exponentially so, by the huge amounts of hospital administrators with whom the former must deal in the process. About what is “Health Care Reform” really?

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10556
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A Glimpse at the "Health Care" Debate

"Enter Barbara Marino of St. Petersburg, Fla., insisting that, no, health care is not a right...'I don't think anybody's entitled to free health care. It's a privilege. It's not in the Constitution.'...Oh, you mean that ironclad document with 27 amendments?"

Dear friends,

While it seems to me that so-called "Health Care Reform" has more to do with cost analysis than correcting so many of the ills of the system, the Philadelphia Inquirer's outstanding Annette John-Hall delivers a glimpse at the "circus". Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/annette_john-hall/20090918_Annette_John-Hall__A_puzzling_trip_to_a_political_zoo.html
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President Obama's "Health Care Reform" speech

"President Obama’s “health care reform” address, at least to me, seemed more like a “consumer protection” speech."


Dear friends,

President Obama’s “health care reform” address, at least to me, seemed more like a “consumer protection” speech. He even used the words “market” and “business” a number of times. Therefore, it was very confusing when he called the public option a “means” to an end. After all, are we not, as consumers, means to ends (i.e., profits) for businesses like insurance companies and banks?

In other words, is having access to health care to be viewed in the same context as buying a car? Most members of the Congress as well as President Obama, apparently, believe that it is. As a matter of fact, I suggest that we “reform” the method that is currently used for purchasing automobiles, based upon Obama’s “health care reform” plan. To be sure, just as the drug companies, insurance companies, and banks will now have greater access to government dollars/profits for “health care”, the Big Three auto companies, along with Big Oil, will “make a killing”, as it were.

Why not “reform” the educational system, by making certain aspects of health care part of the curricula for our schools? For example, emergency first aid can be taught to all sixth-graders. That will save a lot of emergency room visits, by allowing more people to use out-patience services, if anything, instead of running to emergency rooms for every injury or ailment. Additionally, we need to have mandatory grade school classes about personal hygiene that, for example, teach children to expel mucus, by blowing their noses into either handkerchiefs or paper products, when they have a runny nose, as opposed to making disgusting snorting noises and swallowing the viscous matter - which often leads to, or maintains, asthma (a far too prevalent and largely un-necessary health problem for today’s North American youth).

At any rate, Brother Obama mentioned that some people are acting “irresponsibly”, regarding their lack of consideration for others having to cover the health costs of the former. Unfortunately, our president fails to see the connection between a person’s responsibility to both his or her own welfare (e.g., health and education) and the well-being of his or her community, as opposed to relying upon for-profit enterprises or governmental largesse to deliver what he or she needs. For instance, as they should for other aspects of their lives, people should be taught by parents at a very young age, to take responsibility for their own education, as well as their health. That is, education is not something that someone gives to you; rather, it is something that one gets for one’s self. Dig? Likewise, one should be in charge of his or her own health – not a doctor or other health professional. Of course, in a market-driven, possession-oriented society such as ours, that message is taboo.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Is Single-Payer Health Insurance “Disruptive”, as President Obama insists?

"Mr. President, considering your response to the suggestion of single-payer health insurance, it was very “disruptive” to scores of millions of individuals, including owners/managers of businesses and other economic, political, and social institutions for a Black man who had a good chance of winning to run for the nation’s highest office, so why did you continue running?"

Is Single Payer Health Insurance “Disruptive”?

President Obama says it is. That brings the question, at least to me: Mr. President, considering your response to the suggestion of single-payer health insurance, it was very “disruptive” to scores of millions of individuals, including owners/managers of businesses and other economic, political, and social institutions, for a Black man who had a good chance of winning to run for the nation’s highest office, so why did you continue running?

Meanwhile, many citizens, especially Republicans, complain about not wanting “too much government”. To be sure, such a protestation is quite dubious, since it is precisely the threat capability of the government’s police and military forces that allow the former to be able to accumulate any measure of wealth in the first place. Moreover, without the aforementioned threat capability of the government’s power how would the wealthy be able to stop others from taking their fortunes?

Finally, at least to me, those who have way more ducats than the rest of us should pay far greater taxes as they relate to percentages of incomes, because they have so much more to lose. Otherwise, the wealthy are being even further subsidized than they already are by their fellow citizens who are of middle class and lower-middle class incomes, since the latter make far less use of airports and other facilities - whether for business or pleasure, that rely so heavily upon government funding. Let’s get real!

G. Djata Bumpus
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Why we need Single-Payer Health Care

"While President Obama and others say that making our current health system a "single-payer" one would "disrupt" the current process..."

Dear friends,

While President Obama and others say that making our current health system a "single-payer" one would "disrupt" the current process, there is no doubt that single-payer health insurance (which is used by most advanced nations) would be a far better choice than the one that we currently have. Besides, while he has been using that excuse of not wanting to "disrupt" lately, perhaps, our president should consider the fact that the same type of people who protest single-payer health insurance as a disruption, probably thought that having a "Black" president would be one too. Eh?

Nevertheless, on the link below, you will find resources for more information about this crucial issue.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+is+single-payer+health+insurance%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pnhp.org%2Ffacts%2Fsingle_payer_resources.php
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More from Black Doctor Website

10 Best Fitness Tips For The Summer


Dear friends,

On the link below are some tips for the upcoming summer season, from a great
newsletter.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirt,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.blackdoctor.org/articles.aspx?counter=26133
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Black Doctor Website

"BlackDoctor.org) -- When the oil in your car is low, the oil light comes one. When there is something wrong with your engine, the engine light comes on. When there is something wrong with your body, a light doesn’t pop on, but your body usually sends out a flare when something has gone amuck..."


Dear friends,

On the link below you wil find an extraoirdinary Website that delivers a free newsletter about health - at least once per week. All adults can benefit from occasionally perusing it.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.blackdoctor.org/articles.aspx?counter=33989
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In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The document below was actually posted on this blog back in Aygust. However, in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it appears here again.

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Dear friends,

I was forwarded the information below, very recently. Normally, I am not the type to distribute petitions, although I have signed many such documents, over the years, when approached by someone working a "petition drive" on the streets.

In any case, this particular issue, about mastectomies, is too serious a matter for any of us to ignore. After all, our love for ourselves cannot have any substantive meaning apart from our love for others. As a matter of fact, how would we even know what love is, without understanding what it means to share the experience of love through/with others?

Therefore, please try to imagine, especially for a woman, having to have a breast removed. Forget about the physical pain and discomfort, or the cometic stuff. That must pale in comparison to the emotional and spiritual well-being (mother nature) of any woman, whether she has ever had children or not. For a moment, the initial feeling cannot be a lot different than losing a child - the most devastating of all human losses. Of course, the reason for that is: You have lost a part of your very being.

We live in an age when opportunistic people who have taken improper stock of themselves make inane statements like, "I can run a business well; therefore, I can run a government well." The purpose of an enterprise/business is to create customers. The point of hospitals is to help those who are in immediate need of care for physical and/or mental ailments. If the hospital is seeking customers, as we now see ads running both by and for them today, then the entire health care system has lost its very meaning. That's sad.

Please take, literally, less than two minutes of your time. I did it! Peruse the missive below, and simply type your name, US mail address, and e-mail address into the already-made form. It is that simple. That info will be forwarded to the US Comngress, on your behalf, as a supporter of the petition. By the way, there is also a little space to leave a small comment, if you choose to. I did that too.

Finally, It is easy to show indifference; it requires no inner strength. However, it takes the inner powers of love and courage to care about other people and things. Besides, have you ever felt bad about doing the right thing?

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Please sign the petition and help other women.

City of Hartford - City Hall - Rm. 305
Office for Youth Services,
550 Main St.> > Hartford, CT. 06103
860-757-9883
martha.jackson@hartford.gov

Proposed Mastectomy Law Change (Outpatient> Surgery)

(written by a surgeon)
I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.
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A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress. It takes 30 seconds to do this and is very important . Please take the time and do it really quick! Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill - Important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this> issue and send it on to others you know who will do the> same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from> anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site> below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number. http://www.mylifetime.com/community/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition

This takes about 2 seconds.> PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends
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Mind over matter

Dear friends,

Many people, at least, know of someone who has lived with a spinal cord injury for many years. While the Bush administration has taken a great amount of funds away from scientific research - generally, there has been some progress made with the development of new ways to end paralysis.

Please check out the short article, on the link below, from BBC. I found it interesting. You may too.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7669159.stm
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