Your Kids are Livestock...recent stories
I imagine many here have picked up that I'm sensitive to the mistreatment of children. I thought I'd share a couple stories that just came to me, perhaps as a lesson on something to look out for. I've long noted that the medical system just uses, and abuses kids for profit. The stories just keep coming to me where I sit. The more recent stories have to do with dentists.
My wife recently informed me of a story where a mother (probably single mother...remember that) took her child to the dentist and was informed that the child had to be sedated and be given multiple crowns. The first dentist didn't realize the mother was out getting a second opinion when he called CPS and the child was taken away based on the argument that the mother wasn't taking care of the child. That second dentist? He found that the child didn't need the crowns. Sounds far-fetched, until you start hearing the of same situation over and over. I asked my wife, "What did the father do?" Her reply, "I didn't hear any mention of a father."
Last night I'm enjoying a cold one with a good friend, who happens to be a pediatrician in very high standing. He tells me that this week one of his patients was brought in by the mother for a pre-sedation check by my friend. Turns out the child was scheduled to have multiple crowns put in, under sedation, by a pediatric dentist the next town over. The check by my friend had to be done right away because the dentist told the mother that the child might have infections from the poor condition of the teeth, the infections could turn to meningitis right away, and (by the way) the mother had just given the dentist $3K for the upcoming procedure. My buddy looks in the kid's mouth and finds...nothing. Perfect teeth. With the mother's cooperation they take the kid to another dentist who looks in the kid's mouth and finds what my friend found. No problems. So, my friend calls the first dentist and says, "So, which tooth are you going to crown? Which good tooth are you planning to drill?" Mind you, sedation in a dentist office is another subject worthy of discussion and concern.
I get home from the beer meeting late last night and my cousin is visiting. I relay this story and her eyes get real big and she tells me about an orthodontist who recently told her that he son's braces were going to cost $20,000. LOL...
I mention this here because we're seeing more and more of it. I find it to be very troubling. My advice would be to be cognizant of it, put your kids first, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion when it comes to pediatric dental procedures. There are some real bad apples out there. And, I've seen for many years mothers being bullied by medical professionals. Remember that you're the client, not the livestock. These stories bring out the Objectivist in me. And, they make me consider ripping a dentist's arms from his body. Good luck practicing like that, doc...
My wife recently informed me of a story where a mother (probably single mother...remember that) took her child to the dentist and was informed that the child had to be sedated and be given multiple crowns. The first dentist didn't realize the mother was out getting a second opinion when he called CPS and the child was taken away based on the argument that the mother wasn't taking care of the child. That second dentist? He found that the child didn't need the crowns. Sounds far-fetched, until you start hearing the of same situation over and over. I asked my wife, "What did the father do?" Her reply, "I didn't hear any mention of a father."
Last night I'm enjoying a cold one with a good friend, who happens to be a pediatrician in very high standing. He tells me that this week one of his patients was brought in by the mother for a pre-sedation check by my friend. Turns out the child was scheduled to have multiple crowns put in, under sedation, by a pediatric dentist the next town over. The check by my friend had to be done right away because the dentist told the mother that the child might have infections from the poor condition of the teeth, the infections could turn to meningitis right away, and (by the way) the mother had just given the dentist $3K for the upcoming procedure. My buddy looks in the kid's mouth and finds...nothing. Perfect teeth. With the mother's cooperation they take the kid to another dentist who looks in the kid's mouth and finds what my friend found. No problems. So, my friend calls the first dentist and says, "So, which tooth are you going to crown? Which good tooth are you planning to drill?" Mind you, sedation in a dentist office is another subject worthy of discussion and concern.
I get home from the beer meeting late last night and my cousin is visiting. I relay this story and her eyes get real big and she tells me about an orthodontist who recently told her that he son's braces were going to cost $20,000. LOL...
I mention this here because we're seeing more and more of it. I find it to be very troubling. My advice would be to be cognizant of it, put your kids first, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion when it comes to pediatric dental procedures. There are some real bad apples out there. And, I've seen for many years mothers being bullied by medical professionals. Remember that you're the client, not the livestock. These stories bring out the Objectivist in me. And, they make me consider ripping a dentist's arms from his body. Good luck practicing like that, doc...
I've been seeing the same dentist for about a decade now, regular cleanings and some occasional 'planing and scraping' on my aging teeth, but still never a cavity in my life.
A few years ago we got a letter for Dentist #1 (that was apparently dumb enough to think we were still on his patient list) and that "because insurance is so slow to pay, we would have to pay in cash, and seek our own reimbursements). So, in other words, they suffered from the industry average of about 35% of claims being denied for over-billing or suspected fraud reasons. But if you get cash from the patient, then they are screwed. I looked the guy up at work, he had been sanctioned by several insurance companies and I noticed a while ago his office was no longer there. I 'smelled' referral fee sending us to his orthodontist friend, he blew a gasket when he saw on the chart that my son didn't get the ortho from his preference - then I got a speech about how substandard dentistry was going to cause severe discomfort. Really? And the made up stuff doesn't?
The majority of the dentist profession seems pretty corrupt. We had a wonderful family dentist before this nonsense, his son was killed in Afghanistan rather early in the war and he never really recovered from it, ended up closing shop and retiring.
I have also heard of a certain pediatric dentist as well that has been over-billing for quite some time, and doing extractions on children after charging for anesthetics, but not actually using them... She's just about crazy enough personally to do that too, kids are scared to death of her, and she treats the parents like royalty, so they keep going back for the free lattes while the kids are getting beaten up with a baseball bat.
Unfortunately, our censure records file for the medical profession is exceptionally long.
"It turns out that compulsory education, a feat accomplished during the Progressive Era, was also a compulsory indoctrination into Progressive thought and twentieth-century Protestantism. Arthur Calhoun stated in 1919, “The fondest wish of Utopian writers was coming true, the child was passing from its family into the custody of community experts.”"
"The power to shape children’s futures was taken from their parents and put into the hands of the government. Starting in this era, as John Swett, the founder of public education in California, stated, schoolchildren belonged not “to the parents, but to the State, to society, to the country.”"
Theodore and Woodrow Andrew Napolitano
"When an opponent declares, "I will not come over to your side," I calmly say, "Your child belongs to us already...What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community."
Adolph Hitler
http://www.azquotes.com/quote/538489
So both the orthodontist and the mother have been taught and accept that doctor knows best. It might take hundreds of years for the concept of the sovereignty of the individual and the family as the best place to nurture and educate their children to re-emerge as a dominate philosophy.
This Dr. Last Name Only turned out to be a young beautiful blonde female. Had a couple of cavities that she filled. Most importantly, she passed my essential test for being good with a Novocaine syringe.
Chatting, I learned that her husband was still a UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) student who came in after hours to pull teeth.
During my third and last visit, I was advised I had three teeth that needed to be pulled. Then I was quite surprised when Blondie pressed her tummy against mine as she reached across my chair to get some dental instrument.
I immediately recalled myself back in1970 as a Marine in civvies at dive called The Pirate's Den and a blonde waitress who'd rub her leg against my hip every time she brought me a beer. Anyway, it was only with Dr. Blondie that all sorts of alarms of high suspicion went off in my dino head.
I big time wanted a second opinion. A coworker recommended a dentist who looked into my mouth and said, "You don't need any teeth pulled."
He was my dentist for about ten years. Hated that he retired. His surprise replacement in the same office was actually older and crap with Novocaine injections. Bye-bye.
My current dentist is satisfactory and next door to where the blonde used to be. She went bye-bye for whatever the reason.
Maybe she's in North Carolina and is a waitress at The Pirate's Den.
Oops! I mean to shame any leg-rubbing waitress who works in a dive.
There are some providers that don't even think about what is best for the patient.
Eventually I had the crowns replaced 10+ years later in Panama (for 1/4 of the price) by a dentist with American university training who had many US patients that recommended him. Had a nice vacation, too.
By the way...that Would put them smack into a different racial category as well and in that respect...you guessed it...I'm a racist!?!?!?
BUT - the thought of Dentists taking advantage of parents through their kids is lower than despicable.