Health Care in U.S., Canada

The article is biased, and yet another example of doctor-bashing. One only has to read the last paragraph to note that “subsequently the family has established residence in Washington and the child has gained eligibility for Medicaid. The hospital is working with Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle.” And “there seems to be a good faith effort to resolve the issue.”

Sick Americans receive good health care, especially children. There are laws forbidding hospitals from transferring ill patients who arrive in their emergency rooms to other facilities, unless the original hospital does not have the ability to care for the patient, or to discharge them from the emergency room if they require ongoing hospital care.

The majority of larger medical centers in this country have a well-established record of treating indigent patients both from this country and other countries free of charge. I myself have performed no less than a half dozen operations during the past five or six years on patients without finances from the Philippines, Mexico and China.

MICHAEL H. SUKOFF MD

Santa Ana