[HarryHirsch]

The physicians and nurses are the public face of the healthcare mess. It's only natural that they would attract ire. You go to the physician and you know they'll overbill you. It's sickening. You get angry the moment you walk through the door.

[mikeash]

You could stay home instead.

[stallmanite]

Yes stay home witha severe injury. Why does no one think of that? Are you even being serious or just making antagonistic posts?

[mikeash]

The dude hates doctors and nurses so much that he thinks they deserve to be physically attacked. And yet he is desperate for their services. This is a contradiction. I’m attempting to point this out.

[HarryHirsch]

You can look at it the other way: you need physicians and nurses, and because you have no alternative they fleece you by any means possible, and the rule of law doesn't apply to them.

A couple of years ago I fell for the high-complexity drug testing scam at the intake visit. It goes like this: you pee in a jar, and they send it to an out-of-network lab. A few weeks later the 4.5 kUSD bill arrives, which isn't covered by insurance. Everyone denies responsibility: the physician says you gave us the sample, the insurance says out-of-network, and the lab says services rendered. The charges eventually went away, after several afternoons on the phone.

Civil society offers no solution. It's no surprise that people give way to their anger. There isn't even a contradiction.

[stallmanite]

Ridiculous. The best part about paying for a drug test is that it literally offers no benefit to the patient. He or she knows firsthand whether they took any drugs. (Excepting cases where something is slipped into a drink but that accounts for ~0% of tests performed.)

[stallmanite]

I can see that but suggesting a course of action that is absurd on its face doesn’t do anything to refute his stance. Medical treatment for a severe injury isn’t optional.