THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602160018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
After reading columnist Joan Beck's ``Rush to HMOs are producing some scary changes in treatment'' (Perspectives, Feb. 3), I can no longer keep my mouth shut. She summarized the demise of health care in an elegant fashion; however she left out another source that may alter HMOs' way of doing business. We - the patient, the consumer - need to better educate ourselves on the tools available to improve a better patient outcome for our health care.
My mother was recently hospitalized. She was nauseated from the anesthesia and four hours later still could not open her eyes for fear of vomiting. I asked the nurse for a new and better anti-emetic, ``Zofran,'' to combat the nausea. Her response was, ``We have had great success with this new agent in improving patients' response to the post-operative nausea of anesthesia. However, the pharmacy restricts its use because of cost.'' I demanded the drug, and within an hour mother was sitting up and asking what I did for her, because she had felt like dying.
I am in the pharmaceutical business. Over the past few years, I have seen hard-working, compassionate and caring physicians succumb to bad medicine. HMOs reward physicians for use of less expensive meds and procedures.
I have an overwhelming feeling of doom that we, the consumers, will not be able to benefit from modern technology. Consumer beware!
MARY JO LASCARA
Virginia Beach, Feb. 3, 1996 by CNB