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Recent Newspaper & Online Columns by Kate Scannell MD

Congress at the helm of health care's sinking ship

By Dr. Kate Scannell, Syndicated columnist
First Published in print: 08/06/2011

THINKING OFTEN about health care, I am increasingly disheartened about the direction it's taking in this country. We seem to be sailing further away from a clear understanding about the goals of medical care, on an expensive junket with politics and commerce commanding the helm.

It feels that we are sinking a little, our ship also bogged down with the weight of the federal deficit and hefty health care costs. We anxiously hang on because it's the only ship in sight, but all of us know there aren't enough lifeboats to go around.

So the last thing our health care system needed was last week's tribal tantrums in Congress rocking the boat for political show. The harrowing rollick not only nauseated most of us passengers -- it also demonstrated that our political officers were inept and unsafe navigators of the financial crisis on which health care drifts.  Read More