Aid from Cuba...

[rwieder 0]

I want to, but i ain't.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[pajarito 0]

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Why, thats incredibly racist of you.

Thank you for sharing.

How is it racist? We're talking about professional qualification. At least I am.

[Tonto 1]

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One step up from 3rd world.

And it was the 3rd world which did the world's 1st successful heart transplant.

South Africa had the same fear of Cuban doctors after the 1994 elections. It proved unfounded. The time and effort many have put into their communities is admirable.

The US has lots, and lots of crappy doctors.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[pajarito 0]

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My wife trains doctors all over the world in emergency medicine. She actually goes to Cuba twice a year with US permission. It is usually not the quality of the physicans care that is the problem; it is the old, unreliable, or outdated equipment that is not up to current medical standards that is the problem.

Is their curriculum as thorough as the ones here in the US or over in Germany? You're saying that they are as highly trained as ours (aside from their shotty equipment)? If so, I stand corrected. I just never would have guessed that. I’ve been to more than a few countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean. I’ll take your word for it. If so, I wonder why help was declined. Do you know?

[Steel 0]

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>How could you account for the quality of care our people would get
> from Cuban trained doctors?

I know several people who have gone overseas for procedures rather than deal with US medical care. We can get pretty provincial at times. Denying our own disaster victims trained medical care because of our xenophobia is a symptom of a pretty serious problem we have in terms of how we see other countries.

I can't believe how clueless people can be to think that the reason behind this is because of the quality of the doctors' skill. This is about the embargo, we don't want to deal with Cuba. We want the communist / leftist system there to fall. Its that simple.
Do you also think that recently, when we turned down Iran's offer to help with the oil crisis, that it was because we thought their oil is faulty?

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If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[wmw999 2,545]

I grew up in Brazil (that would also be a third world country), and even volunteered in a charity hospital one summer. Haven't died yet, and wasn't horrified then.

At the time (early 70's), Brazil had one of the best plastic surgeons in the world. They also had (and still have) faith surgeons, but I don't believe there are any rattlesnake handlers there -- are we even?

The best thing most doctors can bring to the table are diagnostic ability and the ability to get a patient to live a healthier lifestyle (that they can -- telling someone impoverished to just eat more doesn't count). Equipment isn't needed for either of those.

Would I go to Brazil for major heart surgery? Nope, probably not. But if I were there are were injured or sick, I'd for sure go to a Brazilian doctor, and would be thrilled at having qualified doctors assist us in a natural disaster.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[billvon 3,076]

>This is about the embargo, we don't want to deal with Cuba. We want
> the communist / leftist system there to fall. Its that simple.

So if a few americans die for lack of medical care, it's worth it to hurt Cuba a little bit?

It is thinking like this that makes me despair for the future of the human race. "Sure, people died, but at least Cuba didn't get any good press."

[wmw999 2,545]

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This is about the embargo, we don't want to deal with Cuba. We want the communist / leftist system there to fall. Its that simple.
Do you also think that recently, when we turned down Iran's offer to help with the oil crisis, that it was because we thought their oil is faulty?

(edited to add the quoted text -- I don't believe I've ever agreed with everything in a post of his in SC before )

Bingo!
There's a certain amount of pride too -- "we did it all ourselves." Pfeh. We'd be better off taking a lot of hte help, it would build bridges. There's nothing like battling a common foe to help people understand each other.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Steel 0]

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>This is about the embargo, we don't want to deal with Cuba. We want
> the communist / leftist system there to fall. Its that simple.

So if a few americans die for lack of medical care, it's worth it to hurt Cuba a little bit?

It is thinking like this that makes me despair for the future of the human race. "Sure, people died, but at least Cuba didn't get any good press."

Do you have any idea how many Cubans have died because of that system?
hint over 113,000
So no I don't think this is such a tragic situation that we need to acknowledge that system as a system worth dealing with. Hell no!

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If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[Frenchy68 0]

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Do you have any idea how many Cubans have died because of that system?
hint over 113,000
So no I don't think this is such a tragic situation that we need to acknowledge that system and worth dealing with. Hell no!

I don't see what the doctors have to do with it...
But how's that embargo thingie working, anyway?

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[pajarito 0]

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At the time (early 70's), Brazil had one of the best plastic surgeons in the world. They also had (and still have) faith surgeons, but I don't believe there are any rattlesnake handlers there -- are we even?

I saw a special on TV about a month ago talking about people who went down south for cheaper plastic surgery. They came back here only to find many of them botched and in need of repair. Their doctors down south were hard to locate. Scary idea.

[billvon 3,076]

>Do you have any idea how many Cubans have died because of that system?

A lot. So we should add some americans to the death toll, just to make em look a little worse?

[Casurf1978 0]

My dad has also gone to Cuba to train their doctors and basically said the same thing your wife did.

The stupidity of this admin is beyond comprehension. To deny needed medical help is borderline criminal.

[Steel 0]

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>Do you have any idea how many Cubans have died because of that system?

A lot. So we should add some americans to the death toll, just to make em look a little worse?

Yes, if it would keep from thousands more there dying and helping maintain that system up. Why not ask Osama Bin Laden for help? Maybe he can help with some donations. And later when thousands more die we can say well we didn't see it coming before.
for Frenchy
The embargo would be doing much better if it wasn't for the damn Canadians and Europeans Sending AMERICAN dollars there. Notice I stress that because that is what the communist Cuban government is after.


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If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[Casurf1978 0]

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I saw a special on TV about a month ago talking about people who went down south for cheaper plastic surgery. They came back here only to find many of them botched and in need of repair. Their doctors down south were hard to locate. Scary idea.

You dont think it happens here. At one point close to 40% of the operations my dad was doing was to fix major mistakes done by doctors trained here in the states. I spoke to a plastic surgeon and he said the same thing. A considerable portion of his clients now come to him to fix mistakes done by other docs.

[nate_1979 9]

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We'd be better off taking a lot of hte help, it would build bridges. There's nothing like battling a common foe to help people understand each other.

Wendy W.

You ever read one of those posts that just hits you up side the head like a bag of bricks, makes sense, makes you question alot of shit, really makes you think? Your post just did that to me... Just thought I'd share.

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[wmw999 2,545]

And I saw a special about bad plastic surgery in the US. So what?

There's a doctor here in Houston who finally had his license removed; his nickname was "dr Blood." It's very hard to be sanctioned in the US for bad medical practice.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[christelsabine 1]

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>Do you have any idea how many Cubans have died because of that system?

A lot. So we should add some americans to the death toll, just to make em look a little worse?

Yes, if it would keep from thousands more there dying and helping maintain that system up. Why not ask Osama Bin Laden for help? Maybe he can help with some donations. And later when thousands more die we can say well we didn't see it coming before.
for Frenchy
The embargo would be doing much better if it wasn't for the damn Canadians and Europeans Sending AMERICAN dollars there. Notice I stress that because that is what the communist Cuban government is after.

Oh man, that sounds like beeing brainwashed
What's about the tons of food Germany sent? At first refused, oh-nonono, we never need!.. and finally accepted? Pride and stupidity grow on same branch, we use to say (in my language, of course it sounds much more like a poem/rhyme)

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[pajarito 0]

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And I saw a special about bad plastic surgery in the US. So what?

There's a doctor here in Houston who finally had his license removed; his nickname was "dr Blood." It's very hard to be sanctioned in the US for bad medical practice.

Wendy W.

Right...
Ok...
But will that doctor from Cuba be held to the same standard? I don't know. Are their standards as stringent as ours?

[wmw999 2,545]

If they're in the US, I would imagine they'd be expected to either have translators or be able to speak English. Given that most of what's needed right now seems to be reaction to exposure to a lot of bugs normally seen in the third world now (dysentery, etc), they might be a better choice than a doctor used to treating well-fed Americans.

They would have to either bring medicine (not likely given constrained supplies), or prescriptions would have to be co-signed by American doctors familiar with what was available.

I wonder if all of the American doctors that we sent to the tsunami relief were perfect? They were volunteers, trying to do a good thing.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Frenchy68 0]

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Are their standards as stringent as ours?

Yes they are. That is not to say that sometimes, lack of equipment is not an obstacle to achieving certains goals. But they are overall very, very good doctors. There are exceptions, much like there are in the US and Europe.

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[pajarito 0]

Would you send your daughter (if you have one) for plastic surgery in Cuba?

[pajarito 0]

How do you know this? Like I said before, I'll take your word for it. Just curious as to how you know for sure. Just a bit skeptical.

[Frenchy68 0]

Various statements from my mother over the years, who has worked with some Cuban doctors. She was involved with research on cancer (ICRC), the Pasteur institute and the Meyrieux institute.
But no first hand experience, as I have never been there myself, unlike Gemini's wife.

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[Steel 0]

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>Do you have any idea how many Cubans have died because of that system?

A lot. So we should add some americans to the death toll, just to make em look a little worse?

You know if you're referring to the people who stayed behind because they didn't want to leave their pets then, I understand. And, if I could volunteer to go and help these people escape with their pets then I would. However, if we are talking about idiots that ignored all the warnings 3 days in advance or simply stayed because because they wanted to steal, then I must say that I really don't care as much. Now I am sure you can find some way in your mind to reason out a well intentioned reason for which so many people stayed behind. But if you ask me only a select few deserve the effort to be made on their part.

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If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.