Cornea Transplant System Broken

[bush_cheney2004]

Now this is somewhat surprising....the CBC reported today that the cornea tissue transplant system in Canada is way out of whack....hosed up...so to speak. This is a relatively simple and very reliable procedure that uses donor tissue, usually from an eye bank or equivalent. Is the issue really just the usual wait time circus just as in any other non-emergency procedure, or is there something unique about cornea transplants in Canada ?

Cornea transplant system in Canada broken, say experts

Thousands of Canadians face blindness as they wait months for transplants

More than 3,000 Canadians are waiting for a life-changing cornea
transplant — some for as long as two years — in a system that experts
say is patchwork and broken.

CBC News has discovered that non-emergency patients, many facing
corneal blindness as the result of painful chronic eye disease, can wait
anywhere from five months to two years for a transplant, depending on
which province they live in.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/18/mb-cornea-transplant-wait-times-registry.html

Graphic of the procedure from Mayo Clinic:

[BubberMiley]

There has never been more compelling evidence of the superiority of our health care system than the fact that many Americans (real or otherwise) are obsessed by it and search relentlessly for any evidence to criticize it.

[bush_cheney2004]

There has never been more compelling evidence of the superiority of our health care system than the fact that many Americans (real or otherwise) are obsessed by it and search relentlessly for any evidence to criticize it.

I'm sorry...do you have anything to contribute about the cornea transplant issue in Canada ? What should or could be done about it in addition to pretending it doesn't exist ?

Edited March 19, 2013 by bush_cheney2004

[Shady]

There has never been more compelling evidence of the superiority of our health care system than the fact that many Americans (real or otherwise) are obsessed by it and search relentlessly for any evidence to criticize it.

No, that's not evidence of superiority at all.

[Shady]

I'm sorry...do you have anything to contribute about the cornea transplant issue in Canada ? What should or could be done about it in addition to pretending it doesn't exist ?

Franky, I don't think they care. They're more concerned about equality than outcomes. They'd rather have everyone suffer, than have everyone's wait time improve, but with some more than others. It's a sickness, pun intended.

[cybercoma]

Let me emphasize non-emergency for you

[bush_cheney2004]

Franky, I don't think they care. They're more concerned about equality than outcomes. They'd rather have everyone suffer, than have everyone's wait time improve, but with some more than others. It's a sickness, pun intended.

Sure seems that way....is "temporary blindness" acceptable ? It looks like the problem may be due to the lack of donors and/or pre-cut, qualified tissue. Don't Canadians like to donate peepers after death ?

[guyser]

What should or could be done about it in addition to pretending it doesn't exist ?

Get more3 people to donate their eyes I guess.

It certainly exists, here, in Britain, and in the USA , 3 months wait and in some cases longer.

It exists in your country , or is it you like to pretend it doesnt?

http://www.huroneye.com/cornea.html

http://www.huroneye.com/cornea.html

[bush_cheney2004]

Get more3 people to donate their eyes I guess.

It certainly exists, here, in Britain, and in the USA , 3 months wait and in some cases longer.

It exists in your country , or is it you like to pretend it doesnt?

The wait in the U.S. and other nations is clearly and significantly less than it is in Canada based on the CBC story. Checking other sources, this has been an issue for quite some time and is perhaps the perfect storm of wait time and a lack of donors.

[Michael Hardner]

I think anybody who cares about the Canadian system should be asking questions about this.

"Canadian Blood Services came up with a plan — its Call to Action report, commissioned in 2008 and delivered to provincial and federal health ministers in 2011."

Why are we hearing about this only in 2013 now ?

Clearly our management systems and public knowledge and monitoring of performance are wanting, if we only hear about these issues when they are picked up by the press.

I think it's time for a wholesale change of our healthcare system. Situations like this shouldn't happen - the system should be improving service and generally lowering relative costs as time goes on. Why shouldn't it ?

If we continue to point south of the border saying "we're better than THEM" in response to our problems, we're setting the US system as our own baseline, which means that's what we will eventually get.

[guyser]

The wait in the U.S. and other nations is clearly and significantly less than it is in Canada based on the CBC story.

You might think so but you're American, how would you know?

CBC News has discovered that non-emergency patients-key point

[Michael Hardner]

You might think so but you're American, how would you know?

It's in the story.

[guyser]

It's in the story.

Yes i understand that, however it states clearly non emergency, which means for emergency one need not wait anytime at all much like any opther procedure.

In my link it shows a 5 month wait for Americans, presumably no emergency too.

There is no point to this thread other than to poke fun at , and mock the very rules that were discussed (and locked down for some dumb reason) in the troll thread here.... http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=22482

[eyeball]

I think anybody who cares about the Canadian system should be asking questions about this.

"Canadian Blood Services came up with a plan — its Call to Action report, commissioned in 2008 and delivered to provincial and federal health ministers in 2011."

Why are we hearing about this only in 2013 now ?

Clearly our management systems and public knowledge and monitoring of performance are wanting, if we only hear about these issues when they are picked up by the press.

I think it's time for a wholesale change of our healthcare system. Situations like this shouldn't happen - the system should be improving service and generally lowering relative costs as time goes on. Why shouldn't it ?

Because we're more like a bunch of little countries. There is no Canadian health system, just a bunch of disparate provincial systems that can't or won't get their shit together.

If we continue to point south of the border saying "we're better than THEM" in response to our problems, we're setting the US system as our own baseline, which means that's what we will eventually get.

Well, I can't help but admire their way of managing their fisheries, especially in light of my experiences under Ottawa's system.

The problem isn't with our health systems per se it's with the way we govern ourselves.

[guyser]

The problem isn't with our health systems per se it's with the way we govern ourselves.

Yes, and when one considers that Quebec destroyed perfectly good corneas because no other province would take them......you get your conclusion.

[bush_cheney2004]

Yes i understand that, however it states clearly non emergency, which means for emergency one need not wait anytime at all much like any opther procedure.

In my link it shows a 5 month wait for Americans, presumably no emergency too.

How would you know....you're Canadian.

There is no point to this thread other than to poke fun at , and mock the very rules that were discussed (and locked down for some dumb reason) in the troll thread here.... http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=22482

The story was important enough to be presented by Canada's state financed and controlled media outlet (CBC).

[bush_cheney2004]

...Well, I can't help but admire their way of managing their fisheries, especially in light of my experiences under Ottawa's system.

The problem isn't with our health systems per se it's with the way we govern ourselves.

OK...but the fish don't know the difference.

[bush_cheney2004]

In related news, surgical wait times are not improving as expected:

Wait times for priority medical treatments like hip and knee
replacements are not going down despite concerted efforts in all
provinces to improve the situation, a new report shows.

Tuesday's report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information
showed that despite performing almost 21,000 more procedures in 2012
compared with 2011 — a record — the overall length of time that patients
waited did not fall accordingly.

The five priority areas from the 2004 plan that provinces and the federal government agreed to concentrate on were:

• Radiation therapy for cancer.

• Cardiac bypass surgery.

• Hip and knee replacements.

• Hip fracture repair.

• Cataract surgery.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/03/19/wait-times-surgery.html

[guyser]

And with that we have two more posts directly related to my MLW link. (re trolling)

[bush_cheney2004]

And with that we have two more posts directly related to my MLW link. (re trolling)

This thread's topic concerns corneal surgery in Canada. Do you have anything to add to the topic, or do you still just wish to whine here because the playpen threads were locked by the forum owner yesterday ?

This topic is current and of interest to many impacted Canadians and their families.

[Michael Hardner]

Yes i understand that, however it states clearly non emergency, which means for emergency one need not wait anytime at all much like any opther procedure.

In my link it shows a 5 month wait for Americans, presumably no emergency too.

Let me quote the article:

Dubord pointed out that countries like the United States and Spain have virtually eliminated corneal blindness.

Even some developing parts of the world, such as Colombia and a province in India called Hyderabad, there are virtually no wait times for corneal transplants, he added.

"This whole issue is frankly, in many respects, unacceptable and totally unnecessary in Canada," Dubord said.

Vancouver surgeon Dr. Paul Dubord says the lack of standard accreditation for corneal transplants across the country highlights the lack of consistent quality. (CBC)

"We do on a per capita basis half the number of transplants they do in the States…. There is no effective waiting time in America."

What link did you provide ? The single clinic in a small town in Michigan ?

You're making B_C's tactic of questioning the anti-American agenda seem more appropriate if that's what you're saying. The article is pointing to a shortcoming of Canada's system and I think that's a concern. I don't understand what you have to counter that, nor do I get why B_C's post should have anything to do with the USA.

[guyser]

Let me quote the article:What link did you provide ? The single clinic in a small town in Michigan ?

You're making B_C's tactic of questioning the anti-American agenda seem more appropriate if that's what you're saying. The article is pointing to a shortcoming of Canada's system and I think that's a concern. I don't understand what you have to counter that, nor do I get why B_C's post should have anything to do with the USA.

Edited March 20, 2013 by guyser

[Michael Hardner]

There were to be tywo links that I posted. Not sure what happened as it appears one was duplicated. Both show wait imes in the US , one say 5 months, one says 2 months (if eys available)

Right - check again I only see this link:

http://www.huroneye.com/cornea.html

Tell me, what link did the OP post to show the times are right? The CBC story is light weight prose and doesnt cover the details, as in no wait at all if you need one now?

The CBC didn't reveal how they compiled their data, but the story is credible. They cite statements by minsters of health as well as the report from 2011.

Oh and bullshit with the OP's anti American rant. That has never applied to me, I do not rant against the US and mock its institutions and post inflammatory words to elicit nothing more than anger. It is a one trick pony ploy . The fact that the mods dont see it and do something is a pain in the ass. Yet if one says Cons/Libs/Stevey they get the time out

Yet, here you on are on this very thread - responding to a criticism of our healthcare system with a post about the US system.

The OP's only concern is to mock and poke at our health system (warts and all) offering nothing to discuss and he has definitely made it clear he wants no part of Canada, neither as a neighbour nor a visitor.

So tell me, why does he give a ... if not for poking fun at our country and getting away with it?

I hold the same standards for the idiots on this board who denigrate the US at all costs and all reasons.

You don't have to 'denigrate' necessarily. I don't think B_C even denigrated Canada, just criticized one of our systems. I don't think you have to live in a country to criticize it either.

[waldo]

The story was important enough to be presented by Canada's state financed and controlled media outlet (CBC).

no - again, (partially) financed, yes... controlled, no. You have been repeatedly called out on this and yet you purposely continue to use the word "controlled" any/every chance you get. There's a word for this! It's the same word that applies to someone who fervently scours the interweeb for pointed criticism of the Canadian health system... while ignoring the healthcare/health failings & faults of his claimed country.

[bush_cheney2004]

no - again, (partially) financed, yes... controlled, no. You have been repeatedly called out on this and yet you purposely continue to use the word "controlled" any/every chance you get. There's a word for this! It's the same word that applies to someone who fervently scours the interweeb for pointed criticism of the Canadian health system... while ignoring the healthcare/health failings & faults of his claimed country.

The CBC would cease to exist in its current form without nearly $1 billion in government financing. It is also government controlled at several regulatory levels, including the CRTC. State sponsored.....State financed.....State controlled.

Yesterday the state sponsored network provided a story about poor corneal transplant surgery.