4. High Cost of Medicine - “Gifts and Trips” (4 of 7)

May 29, 2008


Video: YouTube

I think it was J.J.Cale who wrote. “You’d be surprised the friends you can buy with small change.” A few pens, a stapler, a lunch or two, perhaps the occasional conference… in some tropical resort, hey, for the drug companies it’s all tax deductible.

I have a favorite little doctor story. I use to do the occasional bit of footage for a number of TV stations. Over the years I got to know a few camerapersons and reporters, and I found that they used to be pretty canny, somewhat cynical and attuned to the glory hunters.

Well some years ago a local GP, who seemed always to manage to get his picture in the papers or get on TV, ended up in East Timor. For those who don’t know about East Timor, it’s a little island just north of Australia and just south of Indonesia.

This little country, back in the bad old days of world war 2, when the Japanese… they’re the ones who gunned down 22 Aussie Nurses by shooting them in the back, and now are murdering Whales under the guise of ‘honorable scientific research’.

Anyway, the Timories naturally enough, sided with the Aussies; who it must be said seemed to be more honorable and appreciative themselves in those days. Anyhow, the Timories at great risk to themselves, acted against the Japanese and suffered terrible punishments, metered out to them for helping the Aussies.

So when Timor was invaded back on Christmas day ‘75 (or thereabouts) by a corrupt Indonesia, who started butchering them, in much the same way as the Japanese had. Australia and the US just sat back and let it happen, in fact it got worse, the Australian then Labor government, signed a deal with Indonesia to split the ill gotten bootee; in this case extensive underwater oil fields.

After 20 plus years, the East Timories finally broke away from the butchering corrupt Indonesian government… only to be screwed yet again by the Australians, who were busy using Lawyer (spit on the ground) ‘logic’ to ignore International boundary laws, to take from this poor decimated former ally, some of it’s underwater oil fields.

OK I know I’ve wondered off course… again, but have I? You see, that favorite little doctor story of mine comes in here. He turns up in East Timor, about 18 months after the dust has settled, to bring joy to the poor undernourished and diseased little kids.

Whilst he’s there, why not do a little TV spot?… but little does he know, that the Jurnolist/Cameraperson’s suspicious, he smells a rat, so he then goes and interviews a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières doctor, a real humanitarian, who promptly tells the Jurno. “We don’t need clowns, we needed supplies”.

Now the Jurno, having seen all the suffering and shortages, and having I guess a bit of black humor and with it, it must be said, a touch of sugar coated venom, goes back to our little doctor Aussie Patch Adams look a like and runs the Médecins Sans Frontières doctor’s reaction back to our very own Aussie Patch Adams look a like… who stammers out weakly, “Don’t you know that laughter is the best medicine?”

Now you know I’m laughing at this point, but there are a few lessons to be learnt. Firstly, unintentionally the Aussie Patch Adams look a like is in a sense right, though as I said unintentionally… laughter is the best medicine and fewer people die from laughter than from prescribed drugs, far far fewer. Secondly, “doctors should look out for the sick not the well” (that’s actually a Capitan Matchbox Whoopee Band lyric from ‘Wangaratta Wahine’), Laughter is the best medicine, but a few bandages etc. never goes astray does it? (am I being too obtuse here?). Thirdly, doctors are human I guess… some though, are paid far more than they are worth, and still aren’t happy!

Sadly you will probably never knowith the joys of Capitan Matchbox Whoopee Band and there endith todays little rave. :)



Written by Beam · Filed Under People, Political, Sustainability 

Comments

Got something to say?