A message from Preimer Dalton Mcguinty

[GuyIncognito]

Morning,
 As we are in full election mode here in Ontario, I thought it might be an idea to write the Premier and first off see what his governments stance and future plans were for the Transplant program here in Ontario and second to shine some light on a situation that is often forgotten in favor of more popular medical issues like Knee surgery wait times.

The fact that he took the time in what I can only imagine is a crazy time for any politician to write me back speaks very loudly... Remember that when you go to the polls.

Heres what he wrote:

Thanks for your online message regarding organ donation. Your concerns are important to me, and I appreciate your taking the time to share them.

Our government recognizes that organ and tissue donation can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people and that, currently, there are not enough available donors to meet the demand for organ transplants. That’s why we’ve made organ and tissue donation a priority service. We remain committed to maximizing donations in Ontario to increase access to life-saving and life-enhancing transplants, and reduce wait times for patients who need them. Some of our initiatives include:

·        providing $10.4 million in additional funding for 2007-08 to support organ and tissue donation and transplantation across Ontario

·        implementing the Routine Notification and Request Strategy requiring Ontario’s major hospitals to report all deaths to the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) so that it can take the necessary steps to determine if a donation is possible

·        introducing a new policy to fund hospitals for costs associated with screening, assessment and surgery of living liver and kidney donors.

As I announced on August 3, our government is investing $4 million in a comprehensive new plan to boost organ donation and save lives. Our organ donation strategy will:

·        help connect living donors with compatible recipients with a new living donor database

·        improve public awareness through investments in public education, including a youth-focused campaign

·        provide funding to reimburse living donors for pre-approved expenses, such as accommodation, meals, travel and lost income

·        provide hospitals with information identifying people who wish to donate their organs after death. This will help ensure those individuals’ organ donation wishes are known and respected.

Thanks again for contacting me. Your input is always welcome. Please accept my best wishes.

 

Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario

[glitter]

wow- how nice you got a reply that wasn't totally a 'form' letter

[okarol]

Good job Guy! Every letter they receive brings awareness to the issue of kidney disease. Thanks for posting his response.

[Bajanne]

That was really impressive.  That guy would get my vote!

[Neo]

I live in the U.S and I've heard you have much better healthcare in Canada. So what iwanted to know was are you satisfied with your care and does the govt ever get to overide a doctor like they can hear by regulating the amount of epogen I get.. Thanks

[brenda]

Not that I know of here in Canada. It's all up to the doctor, in Alberta anyway. Some provinces have better health care than others. Ontario seems to have a lot better access to medications, and they have a better insurance system. Living in Alberta I couldn't get access to Sensipar which I desperately needed. Its not only not approved for use but Blue Cross won't touch paying for it. In Ontario it is approved for use and insurance covers it. Go figure? So now I am the experiment but at least I get it and it is free.

[GuyIncognito]

I have just got the green light on Sensipar... Ottawa was fantastic about the whole thing. They offered to fund up to 80% of the cost if I didn't have insurance, however my wifes plan covers 100% after the deductible. Quite a change from the Trillium plan.

Whats the deal on Sensipar is it supposed to be allot better than renagel?

[stauffenberg]

In the early phases of the French Revolution of 1789, there was an effort to transform not only political rights to make all people equal in law, but also to change the system of entitlements to the wealth of the society, so as to make all people materially equal as well.  This latter development was hated by people who had money and were afraid they were going to lose their advantages, so administrators of the system, under their influence, deliberately mishandled it to discredit it, and the social welfare aspect of the revolution quickly faded away after that.

Ever since then the goal of right-wing forces has been to disrupt any steps toward the social welfare of all the people so as to encourage the people to turn their back on these programs and allow market forces to flood back into the economic space once taken up by social programs.  One of their biggest targets now is the healthcare system, which in Canada takes up 9% of the economy and effectively removes all that activity from what would otherwise be a huge opportunity for market forces to make a profit.  So what happens is that whenever the agents of right-wing forces come into power in an election, they deliberately underfund the healthcare system so the public becomes furious with the long waiting lists and other deficiencies, with the result that the public starts to think that the problem is with all forms of socialized medicine.  This gives the right-wing forces a chance to make switching to a system based on private profit seem attractive again.

This is exactly what is happening now in Canada.  Since Canada spends only 9% of its GNP on healthcare to cover 100% of the population, while the U.S. spends 15% of its GNP to cover 86% of its population, private, for-profit healthcare in the U.S. starts to look better than the dismal coverage provided by socialized medicine in Canada, where it can take a year of waiting to get an appointment with a specialist.  But what no one seems to notice is that the problem is not that socialized medicine has to be inefficient, but that underfunded socialized medicine will always be worse than well-funded private medicine.

[kitkatz]

Sensipar is in addtion to your Renagel.

[BigSky]

I have just got the green light on Sensipar... Ottawa was fantastic about the whole thing. They offered to fund up to 80% of the cost if I didn't have insurance, however my wifes plan covers 100% after the deductible. Quite a change from the Trillium plan.

Whats the deal on Sensipar is it supposed to be allot better than renagel?

Sensipar is used to primarily to control PTH.   

Renagel is used with meals to lower phosphorus.

[GuyIncognito]

Thanks - haven't really got any info from my Doc... I'm starting to get the feeling she resents having to treat us private clinic patients, We get monthly blood work done and a clinic appointment every 3 months... however she freely admits that she only ever looks at our charts min's before shes sees us on clinic days. Is that normal?

I let my phosphorus get a bit out of hand which lead to some PHT problems, I hope the Sensipar and being back on a strict renal diet is going to take care of it. I lay awake at nights fearing that they will take me off the list for Non Compliance.

[stauffenberg]

I find Dalton McGuinty hard to take seriously, if only because he looks just like the lieutenant on "F-Troop," if anyone can remember that tv show!