Health care or Marketing

Is it me or do radio hosts, particularly those on nationally syndicated radio, always seem to have the same advice about health care? The script they seem to follow tends to be a prepackaged message that follows this basic format, "Reports out of Mexico, China and/or Canada suggest a new deadly virus has been discovered."  At this we are all supposed to collectively gasp in fear.  "Small children and the elderly seem to be most at risk with reports of numerous deaths among the elderly and one infant child"  Again we gasp in fear and dismay at news of this tragic and foreign catastrophe. "The CDC suggests that it is likely already here but no reports have been confirmed', dramatic pause, 'YET'"   Now the marketing pitch..."Luckily a vaccine has been prepared and is being distributed throughout the nation in response to this threat"  So now we all sigh in collective relief that we have been 'saved' before the danger has even arrived...so long as we get the vaccine, of a newly discovered virus that hasn't even been reported on our shores..and yet we have a stock pile of vaccine to counter this new threat?  How exactly did that happen?

 In the last ten years we've had the SARS, Avian and Swine flu pandemics.  Pandemics that somehow never materialized on our shores...or anywhere else for that matter.  All we got was a news story with images of people in China, Mexico or wherever else this virus originated, wearing masks and scurrying about their daily lives in a mild panic.  Isn't it curious that a virus can be newly discovered and yet we have a stock pile of vaccine specifically formulated against that 'one' deadly new strain before it is ever reported on our shores? Curious, very curious. 

 Over the past century our health care system has been more of a study in marketing than it has been an actual health care system.  How many new syndromes pop up every year?  How many new drugs happen to be available to treat this new syndrome?  Watch television tonight and count the number of pharmaceutical commercials you see, count the repeats as well.  Often they repeat back to back especially on prime time. 
 Give it one hour and count the amount of drug ads you see.  Health care isn't health care is marketing.