Here is a great little news anecdote that you just know the media got wrong. The headlines go as follows:
Woman shoots self to get surgery. Desperate and uninsured, Kathy Myers hoped wound would lead to shoulder repair she couldn't afford.
Supposedly, this 41-year-old took a .25-caliber handgun and shot her own arm because she couldn't see a specialist about her "lingering" shoulder pain. A few sentences later, a father of a friend states that she had a shoulder injury from about a month ago. A month ago!!! That's lingering? Even if you did have insurance you wouldn't have been evaluated and had surgery within a month. Only in America do people expect a fix that fast.....and for free.
There is more to this story. The article states that she was out of work as an asbestos remover for about a year and did not have any health insurance. Myers was seen by doctors and given pain meds, though. Her care was not neglected. I guess since her shoulder was not immediately "fixed" she thought mangling it with a bullet would get those doctors off their lazy fannies.
The media loves this because it gets to play up how bad our country is that its people have to shoot themselves in order to get proper health care. Reading between the lines, as a doctor myself, I see this differently. Most shoulder injuries do NOT need surgery. Pain can be controlled with ice, NSAIDS, and then corticosteroid injections. Rehab can be easily done at home with an exercise form and a cheap rubber band. If not better in a few months then an MRI can be done to assess the damage and see if surgery is truly needed.
I would love to hear the real story behind this case. If she didn't have insurance for a supposed surgery then how would she have the insurance or the money for her gunshot wound and the fix that she thought would come with it? If anyone hears any more on this please send it my way.
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