79-01-A6
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Patent Medicine I
TranscriptStep right up folks and for one dollar get a bottle of Cure All made from a secret recipe. There was a time when that was the bottom line in the traveling medicine show. I'll be right back. Not too many people are around who remember the flamboyant painted wagon that used to roll into town with an entertainer, dancer, banjo player, or Indian tom-tom thumper, and a huckster peddling a medicine guaranteed to cure any and all ailments. The routine was always the same, the side of the wagon would open providing a small stage, the entertainer would attract a crowd and then the medicine salesman would make his pitch. I was reminded of this old time medicine show a few weeks ago when a subcommittee of the United State's Senate showed up in the Los Angeles area, supposedly to hold hearings on compulsory national health insurance. Now a hearing by a legislative committee is supposed to gather facts and opinion that will help the committee determine policy on a given matter. The subcommittee that went to California after appearing in Washington D.C., West Virginia, Detroit, Chicago, Denver wasn't gathering information, it was beating the drums in support of legislation. The chairman of the subcommittee, Senator Edward Kennedy is already for the legislation, his own nationalized health insurance bill. I think it's fair to question whether taxpayers money should be used to drum up support for a legislative proposal. The senator went to California, and as he did in those other cities had a roadshow troop of several Canadians and U.S. citizens all of whom had suffered catastrophic illnesses. In California there was an audience of more than a thousand to hear first the Canadians tell how the great cost of their illnesses was paid by the government, then the Americans would tell their story of wiped out savings and lost homes as they tried to pay for their catastrophic ills. Now let me say I'm not belittling those witnesses who suffered long and costly illnesses. Catastrophic injury or disease can strike any of us, and the tremendous cost can go on for years, but this is a particular problem to be solved and it should not be used to justify compulsory government medicine for everyone. At each stop Senator Kennedy's road show attracts opposition witnesses who have difficulty getting on the agenda. In Chicago, the president of the Illinois Medical Society surprised the senator by turning his time over to a doctor from Canada. Senator Kennedy was not pleased. He curtly addressed this Canadian saying, "Well, get on with it, where are you from?" Dr. Robillard, a neurosurgeon trained at Harvard, now President of the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec said "I have no axe to grind, but let me say one thing loud and clear. America has the best medical care in the world. In your haste to copy our Canadian system, do not bring American medicine down to the Canadian level. For now we look up to you." The senator tried to rebut the doctor in an emotional outburst and the hearing ended. No such surprises were allowed in the California show. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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