TALES OF THE BRITISH HEALTH SYSTEM – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  President Obama has just given a recess appointment to Harvard Professor Donald Berwick, to head the Medicare system.  Under a recess appointment, Berwick will serve for a year, but will not have to be confirmed by the Senate...or answer any congressional questions.  Berwick is known as a great fan of the British health system, which he thinks we should adopt.

Consider this, from London's Telegraph:

Four babies died at a National Health Service heart unit where managers were trying to raise the number of patients being treated in order to avoid closure, according to a damning report.

The infants died within three months of each other after being operated on by a relatively junior surgeon who was appointed to raise patient numbers at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, an external review has found.

Caner Salih, who was left alone on his second day in the post, complained about the age of the equipment and poor working practices at the children’s cardiac unit. He blew the whistle to bosses after four of his patients died within three months and asked to stop operating.

At least the physician had some decency.  But I doubt if stories like this, and there are many of them, will stop the American left from worshipping the socialized health system of other countries.  I just fear that, with Obamacare about to make its debut, we will take the best overall health-care system in the world, and the fastest, and trash it to make way for the equality of mediocrity.

It can be stopped, and that will depend on the next two major elections.

July 29, 2010