Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare

Last weekend I watched the feature-length documentary, Escape Fire:The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare. It was enlightening.  It talked about what was broken in America's healthcare system. The thesis of the film seemed to be that while systems are in fact to blame for the dire strain our healthcare system is under, it is us, the people of this country who bear the brunt of the responsibility.

How did I come to that conclusion? Because the film spent the majority of it's two hours enumerating the high costs and consequences of obesity related illnesses. All of the experts interviewed said that our systems need to devote more resources to helping people prevent costly illnesses like diabetes, strokes  and heart attacks. They were emphatic that we don't have a "health care" system, rather we have a "disease care" system that is reactive rather than proactive. One example of this was a woman who had uncontrolled diabetes and high blood-pressure. These unchecked conditions led her to undergo TWENTY-SEVEN different cardiac procedures that included stenting and open-heart bypasses. Twenty-seven. Unbelievable. Once she was seen by the Cleveland Clinic her chronic conditions were addressed. She required another bypass even after that.

I don't dispute that obesity is epidemic in this country. Two-thirds of us are over-weight or obese. Fast food is everywhere, even in schools. I also can't deny that the illnesses that result from obesity must be a drain on our healthcare system.

You may have sensed there's a but coming. There is.


BUT, there are a slew of chronic illnesses and conditions that are not triggered by lifestyle choice and which cannot be reversed once they manifest. Gastroparesis is one of them. More resources should be spent increasing awareness among the medical community of the impact of these poorly understood conditions. The chronically ill deserve compassion and appropriate care. Too often  we get brushed off, told it's in our heads when we have a defined illness.

So yes, doctors need to be able to spend more time with patients  Yes Medicare needs reform. Finally, yes society needs to address the forces behind our obesity problem. Don't forget the rest of us, though.