Call The Major Crimes Squad!

According to CTV, Giambrone expensed one $10.00 cab fare to pick up a girl friend for a date!

GASP! Maybe the Integrity Commission should investigate....

As I said when Clinton got caught, if this is the worst dirt anyone could find on him then frankly he's pretty clean.

Aside from the fact that the source of all of this "scandalous" information is Giambrone's  disgruntled ex-girlfriend who appears to have undue credibility with those who, in my opinion, would like to undermine Giambrone and punish him for daring to challenge the media's golden boy.

At least Giambrone had the forthrightness and honesty to reimburse the city and apologize for his error.

Meanwhile ... back at the ranch ... CTV apparently continues to turn a blind eye to the real scandal involving a currently running Mayoralty candidate.

You know the one.

The "former Health Minister" as CTV so discreetly put it when they were reporting on yet another Cancer Care Ontario scandal.

The difference in the media treatment received by both of these people when both were  Mayoralty candidates raises questions in my mind about CTVs "independence" and "objectivity" in reporting and makes me wonder why the rest of the media so eagerly chases this tail.

Giambrone finally dropped out of the race because of the grossly exaggerated "sex scandals" involving him having a girl friend as well as a live-in girl friend. "Mistress" according to the CTV television news broadcast the other night LOL. Does the term "inflammatory language" come to mind here? Apparently he dumped the girl friend who has since been going to the media to vent her rage. How's that for a credible source.

Now it seems that CTV considers Giambrone's expensing of one $10.00 cab fare to get to a date newsworthy while the other candidate, George Smitherman, the former Health Minister whose Ministry is now being exposed for serious scandals involving serious past and present financial mismanagement gets a pass, or at the very least kid glove treatment.

Note that Giambrone, the current Head of the TTC Commission normally takes the bus or walks and doesn't drive. A rather significant fact omitted in many of the "independent" and "objective" news reports.

I wonder when the last time was that Smitherman saw the inside of a bus or apologized to anyone for anything.

All In Our Heads?

I find the justifications people use to explain their own incompetence quite fascinating.

Like Doctors, who either through their own inability to diagnose well or through the incompetence of the medical labs who mess up test results and which the Doctors won't question and blindly trust.

Both have put Doctors, hospitals, labs, and the entire Health Care system in Canada, particularly in Ontario, in a questionable light in the past few years.

And yet those Doctors continue to demonstrate incompetence when they don't learn that lab results should not be blindly trusted, even when evidence is provided for them that Labs, particularly the private Labs in Ontario, mess up test results, and do so with an alarming frequency that also demonstrates incompetence and which, in my opinion, justifies a full scale Public Inquiry into why the Private Lab system in Ontario is incompetent and not working! Exactly how many cases do we have to have before someone does something about this.

Instead, Doctors take the easy way out which requires the least amount of work and just dismiss patient claims as being "all in their head".

If that's true there's an awful lot of "mental cases" in Ontario since there are an awful lot of complaints about medical incompetence from doctors, hospitals, and labs here.

Frankly, I doubt the doctors and lab technicians who misdiagnosed those women with breast cancer and as a result, removed healthy breasts (one woman had a double mastectomy) are going to be able to use that justification in front of a judge when the law suits go to trial.

I'd love to see them try that one:

"Excuse me, Your Honor, but the fact that we removed healthy breasts because we screwed up the lab results is all in their heads!!"

Um ... Okay ...

In fact a case could be made that it is "all in the heads" of the doctors, lab technicians and labs which have been screwing up the testing and the diagnoses of patients all over Ontario and particularly in my home community, or just providing negligent, extremely poor standards of care.

This is just one (out of many) examples of my direct personal experience with Health Care here.

When I had my blood sugar tested, I had physical symptoms of low blood sugar because I wasn't allowed to eat before the test. This happens if I don't eat breakfast.

And yet my blood sugar lab results were "perfect".

When my sister-in-law, used a blood sugar meter to perform the finger test (her husband is diabetic) my blood sugar was half what it should be.

This is concrete evidence that the lab results were wrong.

Since I'm a kidney donor and only have one kidney, this is a serious medical error for the lab to make and for the doctor to ignore.

It would be nice if there was a way for me to confirm the other lab results independently, by myself, with trusted witnesses but unfortunately there isn't.

Anyway, the cause of this, amongst other things, is the downward spiral of Health Care in Ontario since the Liberals came into power and George Smitherman became the Health Minister.

I, like everyone else, depends on the Health Care system to act in an ethical, moral, and reliable way.

It doesn't really matter whether this is occurring because the labs and some hospitals are now privately owned in Ontario, the Technicians poorly paid and unprofessional, or some other reason.

Either way, what matters is the fact that these things can happen at all here in Ontario and is an indication of a Health Care system infected with moral bankruptcy and unethical behavior, which is resulting in damage to people's health.

But, of course, complaining about such things makes the person a "mental case" and if they're a patient, it's "all in their head".

What's also quite interesting is that for some reason, neither the "independent" Media nor the Liberal Party lead by Dalton McGuinty will question anything associated with George Smitherman despite the numerous Health Care scandals which appear to have originated when he was the Health Minister and those which appear to have occurred while he was Minister. Some of which continue to this date and include financial mismanagement.

I would think that issues of Financial Mismanagement, amongst other issues, in the Health Ministry when he was there would be relevant now that Smitherman has given up his Provincial seat and is running for Mayor in Toronto.

And yet, the silence is golden for this media "golden boy".

A federal case was made about poor Giambroni, driving him out of the Mayoralty race, for doing what most normal guys his age do and which had nothing to do with his competence as Head of the TTC or his potential as a Mayoralty Candidate.

This was pushed to the point where CTV got all holier than thou literally demanding the Integrity Commission investigate Giambroni.

What were they supposed to investigate him for CTV? Liking sex? Give me a break. He's young and unmarried, albeit in live-in relationship. His sex life is his business and that of his girl friend.

On the other hand, CTV doesn't appear to have much of a problem with Smitherman running for Mayor given the scandals in the Health Ministry. Some of which concern financial mismanagment.

Frankly, past Financial Mismanagement would be not only relevant but a rather serious concern relating to a person running in the Mayors race in Toronto.

And yet the Media remain silent on this and have only stopped trashing Giambroni because he dropped out of the Mayor's race ....

Oh, I forgot.

Giambroni was running against Smitherman, and was the only serious challenge to Smitherman.

This made Giambroni fair game.

Why?


In my opinion, the Media bias for Smitherman, which appears to me to be so blatantly obvious that the Media itself should be investigated by both the Telecommunications Commission and the Municipal Elections Committe  for attempting to influence a Mayoral election and intimidate candidates into not running or challenging what appears to be their own, very special, "golden boy".

Oh, I forgot. Criticising things rationally equals being a "mental case" so I guess I should shut up now.

Health Care Ontario Update

Since there seems to be an interest in this topic based on my previous posting:

See tag: Medical Care - Ontario

here are some updates to the situation.

The person who died two months ago, and on who's behalf a protest and demands of government action were launched, wasn't diagnosed in Emergency. He died of Appendicitis. If this isn't a complete exposure of rank incompetence I don't know what is.

How can someone not be diagnosed, and then Die, of appendicitis, in the 21st century, in a developed country, with Universal Health Care!

On top of this, last month, an additional case of incompetence came to light where a woman was admitted to the same hospital for leg surgery and surgery was performed on the wrong leg!!

I'll update people on my medical care situation later when I find out whether I'm going to be in pain for the rest of my life because of improper medical care and treatment or not.

From what others have told me, and they're not doctors, my treatment continues to be mishandled.

Whether that is in fact the case or not remains to be seen. If it is, I will certainly be vocal about it.

Premier McGuinty.

If your Health Minister, Smitherman, was spending even a quarter of the energy and money on the Health Care System, that he's been spending on his Draconian, and I mean Draconian, anti-Smoking campaigns, perhaps we could have a Health Care system we could be proud of.

Do you get it. McGuinty? Can you honestly say that Smitherman has been doing his job for the last five years?

If he was, would this kind of incompetence be happening?

Are you really sure it isn't happening in other hospitals as well and just being covered up?

We need a Health Care Minister who cares!

What's The Point Of Having Free Medical Care When You Can't Get Proper Medical Care

Canada constantly lauds itself on it's wonderful Health Care system and continues to remind the population of how "lucky" we are compared to Americans, and on and on.

Well I've never lived in the US and have no grounds for comparison.

However, I can say that the Health Care system in Canada, depending on the province goes from bad to worse, and frankly is nothing to be proud of.

True, we don't have to pay, but our Health Care system perfectly exemplifies the saying, "You get what you pay for."

I've lived in British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, recently returning to Ontario in 2000.

The deterioration of Health Care just in the last ten years is astounding.

Since I moved to Ontario, just finding a GP has been a challenge, never mind finding a competent one.

In fact, one of the reasons that I was seriously considering dumping my usual vote for the Liberals and voting Conservative this year was because of Smitherman's (Provincial Health Care Minister) shoddy performance in dealing with the very serious issues faced in Health Care in this province, particularly in my community.

My most recent experience has culminated in the worst experience I've had with Health Care in Canada in my entire life, and it seems I'm not alone.

On Friday, November 30, I had a fall and injured my shoulder. I went to my GP, who immediately provided me with a referral to have an X-Ray done at a local medical center. The medical center, unfortunately had closed for the day. I considered the option of going to Emergency and decided against it.

Why? My last experience in Emergency approximately a year ago resulted in a 13 hour wait. I had a dull, but extremely intense headache, called TeleHealth Ontario to speak to a Nurse who noted my symptoms and advised me to go to Emergency. She considered my symptoms serious and requiring immediate attention. She indicated that she would be contacting Emergency to provide them with a report.

There is a three-step process when you attend an Emergency Department in Ontario.

1. Sign In.

2. Triage - Nurse examines you.

3. Registration.

This process took approximately one hour, to the best of my recollection. When I went through Triage I advised the nurse to look for the report from TeleHealth and was ignored.

In the meantime, I was hungry bought a chocolate bar out of the machines, not wanting to leave the area in case I was called. I'd been there for 7 hours. Shortly after this I was called for a blood test. I told the nurse my headache was now gone, after I ate the chocolate bar but I would do the test anyway. I was concerned and assumed that once this step occurred getting the results shouldn't take too long.

Bad assumption. I waited another 6 hours for the blood test results and an opportunity to talk to a Doctor.

After talking to the Doctor we concluded that the most likely cause was the diet my old GP suggested. (In my opinion, a completely incompetent woman who shouldn't be allowed to practice medicine, and who I dumped at that time.)

I had gained 40 pounds in 6 months last year.

I'm not normally overweight. I don't overeat and didnt make any changes to my diet or level of exercise.

Any competent doctor would consider this a problem and investigate it. This woman, wasn't concerned, checked nothng, just told me to remove all fat (there wasn't much in the first place) from my diet.

I followed her advice and after three days ended up in Emergency for 13 hours. It seems that my blood sugar crashed.

So, after this experience, I'm sure one can understand my reluctance to go to Emergency, especially when I was in so much pain. Emergency nurses are not allowed to provide pain medication. You have to wait until you see a Doctor.

I went home, took some extra-strength aspirin to take the edge off and decided to get the X-Ray on Monday. I went first thing Monday morning to get an X-Ray. The X-Ray was done, but there was no-one available to read it until the next day.

I received a phone call from my current GP at 5:00 PM Tuesday evening to let me know they needed to see me to discuss the results.

I went in first thing Wednesday morning, was given a referral to the Fracture Clinic at our local hospital and told to pick up my X-Rays from the Medical Center and take them with me right away to the Fracture Clinic.

My Doctor told me that all I needed to do was give them his referral and they would see me that day. He indicated that because I had a fracture I needed the expertise provided there.

So, I followed his instructions (I was not able to drive, so all of this was done by cab) and arrived at the Fracture Clinic by 11:00 AM.

Now, remember, I have now been diagnosed as having a fractured shoulder.

No further diagnosis is needed, just treatment and instructions on how to manage my injury.

I arrive at the Fracture Clinic, 6 days after my injury, all in an effort to avoid Emergency because I already know that I'm not going to get any treatment there.

Guess what?

They don't know what to do with me, because I haven't got an appointment!!!!!!

I'm asked to sit and wait until someone can locate and talk to the Doctor.

After sitting for an hour, I'm told that I have to go to Emergency for treatment because they can't see me at the Fracture Clinic without an appointment.

Don't you just love the irony here? Well it's not over.

I'm pissed off, but obediently go to Emergency, assuming that I'm actually going to get some treatment, instructions, and medication, if necessary.

I'm now in excruciating pain because I've spent the entire morning running from my GP, to the Medical Center, to the Fracture Clinic. I left my aspirin at home, because I expected to be treated at my GPs.

I go to Emergency.

1. I sign in. I indicate I'm in a great deal of pain and am told that the Nurse can't give me anything, not even aspirin. However I would probably be fast-tracked in Triage because of the nature of my injury.

2. Approximately 1 hour later I'm called for Triage. I indicate that I'm in a great deal of pain. I am not fast-tracked and I'm told that they cannot provide me with any medication.

3. Approximately 1 hour later I'm called to Register. I indicate that I'm in a great deal of pain. I am not fast-tracked and I'm told that they cannot provide me with any medication.

After approximately 4 hours and watching people who came in after me go in to the medical area, I ask the Triage nurse, how priority is determined and where in the priority list fractures are placed. I'm ignored and told that I'm in the "Fast Track" list but they don't know when I'm going in.

After approximately 5 hours repeat the above paragraph. This time I'm angry, and being treated like I'm a criminal because I'm complaining.

I walk away complaining angrily that someone could die waiting for Emergency care in this place.

After approximately 6 hours I'm called in, see the Doctor for 5 seconds, after waiting approximately another 20 minutes. He tells me he will look at the X-Rays.

10 minutes later a nurse arrives, provides me with 3 Tylenol, puts a sling on, gives me an appointment for the Fracture Clinic for the next week, and tells me I can go.

I go out, find the Doctor, tell him I need a medical certificate for my Employer, he scribbles one quickly, makes me feel like I'm intruding, and continues what he's doing.

I'm frustrated, angry, and just leave.

I have been given no instructions on how to manage the fracture, no prescription for medication, and am no further ahead in terms of treatment of my injury than I was before I went in to Emergency.

I now have 1 Doctors Certificate for my Employer and 2 referrals to the Fracture Clinic. The second one lists an appointment time of Wednesday, Dec 12 at 9:15, a week after my visit to Emergency.

While I can type (obviously) and move my lower arm, I can't move my upper arm without a lot of pain and have no idea whether I should or shouldn't with the type of shoulder fracture I have. I don't move it because it's too painful and I can't move it in certain directions.

I watch the Evening News and find out that a big demonstration is planned for Sunday and the Hospital is being investigated because someone died this month waiting for Emergency treatment. He was brought in by Ambulance!

I have now been in constant pain, received no treatment, medications, or instructions on how to manage my injury from November 30 to December 12.

I arrive half an hour early for my appointment at the Fracture Clinic and Register by 8:45 approximately. I hear the clerical staff registering people without appointments. I ask why? It's up to the staff inside the clinic I'm told. So last week they sent me to Emergency and this week they're accepting those patients and putting them ahead of me. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!

At 9:45 I note that people who arrived and registered after me are going in to the clinic. I ask why? I'm told that they are probably going for X-Rays and will be coming out and seeing the Doctor after me. This happens with two people. This does not happen with anyone else.

At 10:15 I ask the same question again, and am told they will look into it. I'm told there are 6 people before me and that the others were X-Rays. I said they weren't, I'm ignored.

At 11:00 I'm called. I wait in the examining room until 11:15 at which time I'm seen by both a Doctor and Physiotherapist.

I am asked about my arm. I explain I can't move it. The Doctor tells me I should be moving it. I explain that I didn't know that since no-one has provided me with any directions on what I should or shouldn't do. I told him it was too painful. He asks if I was provided with any medication. I said I was given 3 Tylenol but no prescription.

I am now provided with a prescription, instructions for exercise, with a promise that arrangements will be made for Physiotherapy and that I will be contacted.

I explain that I need to return to work as soon as possible, so it's important that I start Physio right away. She says she'll try.

I won't hold my breath waiting.

My Doctors certificate is revised from "can work, but can't use left arm" to "can't work".

Gee, what changed? I couldn't dress myself last week any better than I can dress myself this week. Couldn't drive then, can't drive now.

Nope, no changes that I can see.

Yup, this is the "high quality" free Health Care that we Canadians enjoy.

Next people will be dying while waiting for Emergency Treatment.

Oh Gee, that already happened!

My condolences to the family who lost their loved one.

Premier McGuinty. How many people have to die and/or suffer needlessly before you realize that your Health Minister, Smitherman, isn't doing his job?