Silent Enemy vs Silent Killer

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Early morning outside 535 Faunce Corner Road. Photo by Brian

Is this happening to you? You phone to schedule a doctor appointment. The receptionist tells you that so-called routine life altering bookings are now by phone or video-conference. My routine check-up deals with managing high blood pressure. To the best of my knowledge, I cannot be cupped over the internet, at least not yet.

The receptionist chimes, go to a pharmacy or buy a home blood pressure [BP] apparatus. Every time I use one of these contraptions, my BP climbs out of whack. On my follow-up pump, I’m so tense and torqued from the initial attempt, the numbers go higher than the taxi meter from Hyannis to NYC. Screw those frickin’ machines.

According to Stewart Medical Group, video doctor appointments are now the norm because of the Cerveza-virus. I get it. Keep workers safe. Protect them from unmasked men like me. When did the customer-patient that every month refills these business bank accounts become chopped liver?

My doctor constantly modifies my BP meds. It’s a ritual. I pay for his next 4-day weekend with each tweak. He claims the tweaks will continue, indefinitely. If the man who scans my body, better than a nightclub stripper, cannot test my BP, how the hell can he accurately prescribe new medication? A new prescription or no RX may be a life-saving option. Sorry to sound selfish.

High blood pressure [HBP] is known as the silent killer. It’s the major contributor in two of the nation’s top five causes of death. The coronavirus is tabbed the silent enemy. Covid-19 has its own murderous instinct, but statistics show it pales by comparison to HBP.

My beef is not with doctors, nurses or para-professionals. They diligently labor long hours to save lives while risking their own. My hat’s off to them! Instead of following their pledge, their solemn oath to care for all, these highly skilled pros now find themselves regulated to MASH unit stars, giving a thumbs up or down upon a summons to provide care to non- assuming patients not labelled Covid-19.

Our healthcare system is under attack and it’s not by the Cerveza-virus. Governments, big Pharma, along with major medical groups, rule and control this operation. You tell me if around-the-clock coverage of all things corona means major media is playing a willing or unwilling role. Watch CNN-FOX-MSNBC-CBS-ABC, even local news, as they over-saturate viewers with big, bright red blobs on charts indicating coronavirus is here and there. President Trump verbalizes he’s waging war on the silent enemy. I’m not downplaying Covid-19, but war? The constant onslaught insights fear and trepidation. United Statespeople, including the medical pros, are modeling masks and hunkering down petrified.

Meanwhile, the maladies that often inflict and kill are hushed by the so-termed silent killer. Here’s what happens. You’re a doctor. EMTs wheel in two patients. Both have a probability to survive.The unit can reasonably care for only one of them. Patient A has serious Covid-19. Patient B has a plumbing problem which leads to a medium grade heart attack. Where does the heart victim squeeze in on the corona triage totem pole?

Medical practitioners understand best our health patterns and complications. However, government and the medical cooperatives have determined they know best. The current strategy is to concentrate time, energy and resources toward this Cerveza-thing. Serious ailments are deemed non-essential. I remember when HBP used to be public enemy #1, or number 2. Now, we are told, through talking heads, to stay inside.

We, the People, empty our bank accounts every month to pay for medical care. We spend more out-of-pocket, annually, on healthcare than many nations earn in total. Stop bragging that our healthcare system is the best in the world.

  1. It could be #1 if it wasn’t so damn expensive
  2. It may have been numero uno back when doctors and patients made tough choices and not the cooperatives who hire well paid lobbyists to sleep with the body politic

Let’s put our life and death medical decisions back into the hands of foot on the ground medical personnel, their patients and when necessary the patient’s family. In times of need, I want my dollars supporting the reassurance that I have a legitimate fighting chance. 

Brian is the host of Brian’s Beat, Saturdays 7:00 am – 9:00 am, on 1420 WBSM-New Bedford. On-line at wbsm.com

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Brian
Brian
Brian is a five decade real radio veteran and the founder of Brian’s Beat, the media company that produces the Brian’s Beat Talk Show, commentaries, several podcast stories, along with Brian’s Beat On The Street.
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