Thursday, September 4, 2008

Health Care

I hope that, after the convention wraps up tonight, all of the candidates will get back to dealing with some real issues - like health care.

I talked with a woman this morning who told me she couldn't afford to take her son to the doctor.

My brother, sister and I grew up with no health care. None. We had vaccinations from the health department so that we could start school. Otherwise, for the most part, we toughed out our childhood illnesses.

The results: After going through several artificial heart valves, my sister died way too young. My brother is deaf and has serious lung issues. When I was 30 years old I had life saving surgery to repair my inner ear. All of this misery resulted from untreated strep infections when we were children. Yes, this was after the discovery of antibiotics.

American children still go through a great deal of unnecessary suffering. Maybe not your children or my children - but many children. And we're all poorer for it.

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