Liberal Canadian MP Goes To US for Treatment

[EagleSmack]

Get Well Soon Belinda and thanks for proving our point!



Stronach went to U.S. for cancer treatment: report

Updated Fri. Sep. 14 2007 7:57 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Liberal MP Belinda Stronach, who is battling breast cancer, travelled to California last June for an operation that was recommended as part of her treatment, says a report.
Stronach's spokesman, Greg MacEachern, told the Toronto Star that the MP for Newmarket-Aurora had a "later-stage" operation in the U.S. after a Toronto doctor referred her.
"Belinda had one of her later-stage operations in California, after referral from her personal physicians in Toronto. Prior to this, Belinda had surgery and treatment in Toronto, and continues to receive follow-up treatment there," said MacEachern.
He said speed was not the reason why she went to California.
Instead, MacEachern said the decision was made because the U.S. hospital was the best place to have it done due to the type of surgery required.
Stronach was diagnosed last spring with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The cancer is one of the more treatable forms but Stronach still required a mastectomy -- which was done in Toronto -- and breast reconstruction.
Stronach, who announced last April she would be leaving politics before the next election, paid for the surgery in the U.S., reports the Star.
"As we said back in June when we confirmed the surgery, this is a personal and private matter between Belinda, her family and her physicians. I think you'll understand that because of respect for Belinda's privacy, we refrained from offering specific details around her medical treatment," said MacEachern.
While it is rare for MPs to seek treatment outside Canada, MacEachern said Stronach was not lacking confidence in the system.
"In fact, Belinda thinks very highly of the Canadian health-care system, and uses it when needed for herself and her children, as do all Canadians. As well, her family has clearly demonstrated that support," MacEachern told the Star.
MacEachern did not offer any other details regarding what type of surgery Stronach had or what she paid for it.

 

[Liberalman]

She proved the point that if you want to jump the cue and get immediate treatment for a procedure that can wait and is willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars then they should go to America to get it done because America will gouge you for the money.

Canada’s healthcare works and at the end of the day you don’t have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It is paid through the taxes, which makes it cheaper than if you had to pay for it yourself.

American drug companies sell their products at a cheaper price in Canada because they have to deal with the government.

If they brought in public healthcare for all Americans the standard of living would go up for all Americans not just the privileged few.

 

[lone wolf]

Why wouldn't she go to the States? That's where the lion's share of our doctors went. Who can blame then. Government caps on payment barely cover the bills for a person with ten years worth of student loans and a whole office worth of equipment to pay off. Feral Libs wasted how much on an unworkable gun control registry? Provincial counterparts (in Ontario) gave away how much to private interests? Where are the cops when you need them? Being investigated for being crooked too...

Only in Canada you say?.... Pity

Wolf

 

[Colpy]

She proved the point that if you want to jump the cue and get immediate treatment for a procedure that can wait and is willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars then they should go to America to get it done because America will gouge you for the money.

Exactly the kind of bull**** I would expect from anyone with so little self-respect that they call themselves "Liberalman"

"Procedure that can wait" !!!!!!! Exactly what part of the words "breast cancer" don't you understand?

I actually doubt wait times were the problem..........if your trouble is life-threatening, our system works quite well. I think it was probably the type of surgery.....delivered in the USA and not in Canada.

I, like the vast majority of Canadian Conservatives, support a national healthcare system........it is simply methods of delivery thatmake up most of the debate.

 

[lone wolf]

Dunno ... but I think brain cancer has a ring to it. My wife couldn't jump ahead of any ques when it was first suspected. That month wait gave it lots of time to get well advanced. Now, if she'd had the money and the family name?

Wolf

 

[Colpy]

Dunno ... but I think brain cancer has a ring to it. My wife couldn't jump ahead of any ques when it was first suspected. That month wait gave it lots of time to get well advanced. Now, if she'd had the money and the family name?

Wolf

wow!

a MONTH!

that's outrageous!

I had a heart attack March 24.......they kept me in hospital and delayed my surgery twice because of more serious cases jumping the line.....I had a quad bypass April 5. IMHO that is quite acceptable.

I'm sorry your wife was so abused.......forgive me, but please tell the rest of the tale. I hope she is still with us........

 

[lone wolf]

May 29, the return of cancer showed in her blood. Doc thought lung due to AV tests. It wasn't until mid-June when she got into CAAT scan and MRI. By then, she was suffering severe numbness and lost use of right arm and leg. She refused treatment because it was too far advanced. August 18 2006 she passed on.

No forgiveness necessary. Doctor shortage up here is critical. Of over 100 listed for Sudbury District by the college in 2000, 30 have closed and none are taking patients. I have no doctor now since mine retired last year and passed on last month - but I do have a cardiologist.

Wolf

 

[JoeSchmoe]

More Dr's.... better facilities.... If you have the money and have cancer, why would you want to wait until it is possibly too late? Canada is too slow... people die waiting for treatment here. If I had the money and an illness I'd be down there getting treatment for it, not waiting in line with a debilitating (or deadly) disease!

 

[JoeSchmoe]

p.s. sorry for your loss Lone Wolf.

 

[triedit]

Sorry about this, Wolf. Hard to comprehend in this day and age that you all were put through that. You must be so angry.

 

[Walter]

Canada’s healthcare works and at the end of the day you don’t have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Won't have to pay because you will have died by the time you got to the front of the queue.

 

[CDNBear]

Not to mention the fact that the US hospitals usually submit the bills from Canadians right to their respect Provincial Healthcare systems.

 

[Just the Facts]

wow!

a MONTH!

that's outrageous!

I had a heart attack March 24.......they kept me in hospital and delayed my surgery twice because of more serious cases jumping the line.....I had a quad bypass April 5. IMHO that is quite acceptable.

I'm sorry your wife was so abused.......forgive me, but please tell the rest of the tale. I hope she is still with us........

Wow!! Glad to see you made it through!!

 

[Just the Facts]

I also believe in universal health care but still there's no question our system needs an overhaul. Wether it's corruption or incompetence, I don't know. But it definitely needs to get more efficient and effective.

 

[Niflmir]

Exactly the kind of bull**** I would expect from anyone with so little self-respect that they call themselves "Liberalman"

"Procedure that can wait" !!!!!!! Exactly what part of the words "breast cancer" don't you understand?

I actually doubt wait times were the problem..........if your trouble is life-threatening, our system works quite well. I think it was probably the type of surgery.....delivered in the USA and not in Canada.

I, like the vast majority of Canadian Conservatives, support a national healthcare system........it is simply methods of delivery thatmake up most of the debate.

Completely correct Colpy, from the opening:

He said speed was not the reason why she went to California.
Instead, MacEachern said the decision was made because the U.S. hospital was the best place to have it done due to the type of surgery required.

More Dr's.... better facilities.... If you have the money and have cancer, why would you want to wait until it is possibly too late? Canada is too slow... people die waiting for treatment here. If I had the money and an illness I'd be down there getting treatment for it, not waiting in line with a debilitating (or deadly) disease!

The alternative is people dying because they cannot afford treatment. In both cases these unacceptable extremes have a low statistical occurrence although they have a prominent anecdotal occurrence. Our health care system is founded on the principal that effective treatment is not a privilege to be reaped by the privileged but a privilege of being a citizen of our nation that is to be shared equally by all. Our constitution basically seeks to set up an egalitarian society and money will corrupt that in the case of health services especially. Whether an egalitarian society is ideal or not is a matter of controversy still, and the presumed right to pay for health services is of course an example of this controversy.

 

[Colpy]

I am very sorry to hear about your wife, Wolf.

 

[lone wolf]

My kids are recovering and that's what really matters. Though I call her my wife, we divorced 15 years before. Through time and healing - and because our kids were a part of both of us, we remained friends. Throughout her first bout, I was probably more a part of her care than her new husband. We expected the return, and she did enjoy four years in remission.

Wolf

 

[Curiosity]

In the early 90s my sister had a rare form of lymphocytic leukemia. She wasn't ill at first and went to her doctor with the complaint she thought she had the flu. They diagnosed a rapid-moving form of blood cancer and while Vancouver General Hospital did as much as they could they scoured the U.S. for trials and experiments - even a doctor friend of mine in California was searching to get her into one as a last ditch effort.

There is tremendous cooperation between specialty treatments with the U.S. and Canada (or any other nation) with cancer treatment - especially if a patient is willing to be part of a new protocol.... and while I have no idea if Ms. Stronach is part of that situation.... give her the benefit of trying to save her life - no matter where she should go. The fact her doctors sent her to California indicates they felt she would have a more advanced kind of treatment there than Toronto has at the present time.

My sister died within a year - but the advances they have made in her type of cancer, no doubt she would have been in remission today....or at least had more than one year of life.

 

[Sal]

lone wolf and Curiosity, sorry for your loss.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Our health care system is founded on the principal that effective treatment is not a privilege to be reaped by the privileged but a privilege of being a citizen of our nation that is to be shared equally by all.

A fine "principal"... but not reality. There are private doctors in Canada too... that you can pay for.
http://www.specialistclinic.ca/ The Specialist Referral Clinic's first line on their page states it all. "Now you don't have to leave Canada to experience premium healthcare".

Do you want to wait 2 years to see a cardiologist about a heart problem, or would you like to spend a few hundred dollars to get a treatment plan that will get your life back on track within a few weeks? That's the choice a friend of mine made... 2 YEARS wait to see a cardiologist! Anyone who waits that long is an idiot when there are clinics in Canada that can provide a Dr. within weeks.

Workers Comp cases get treated in private facilities in Canada... as do insurance claims.