Bill Frist makes a fool of himself on This Week/Video Clip

[Coltrane]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/ has the video from This Week: Stephanopoulos
Bill Frist says 15% of condoms fail, which is false. From the Waxman Report: When used properly and consistently, condoms fail to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) less than 3 percent of the time, federal researchers say, and it is not known how many gay teenagers are HIV-positive.

He implies that he wants to change the retirement age for social security, and it took George repeatedly asking him if sweat and tears caused the spread of HIV.
Gerorge: You're a doctor. Do you think tears and sweat can transmit HIV"
Frist; I don't know...I can tell you..
Gerorge: You don't know?
Frist; I can tell you things like,like..
Gerorge: You believe that tears and sweat might be able to transmit aids?

[yardwork]

1. I can't believe Bill Frist is a Medical Doctor. He is a disgrace.

[lcordero]

12. hate to tell you but

He is the rule, not the exception in the medical field.

[The Doctor.]

15. I wish I could disagree...

There are actually not that many 'quacks' in the field, but just enough to cast a bad light on many others.

Too many people get into medicine strictly to make money or push their own beliefs - When I have determined someone to be such an individual, I cease referring to them as 'Dr.'.

Bill Frist is no Dr.

[hinachan]

16. Yes, there ARE that many quacks

And I think I've been to 45% of them in my lifetime, alone!

Took me 15 years to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), 10 years to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Why? Because doctors are so sexist, that as soon as they saw someone underweight and confined to a wheelchair, the one thing that came to their minds was: "eating disorder".

Never have had an eating disorder, just had such bad mania that it caused stress-related IBS and stomach trouble that caused me to get weak and lose that much weight.

Doctors are the reason the health care crisis exists today...patients like me have to go from doctor to doctor, trying desperately to get diagnosed, and our insurance companies pay the price. (I'm the rule, rather than the exception; statistics show that on average, FMS patients aren't diagnosed for 10 years, bipolar patients aren't diagnosed for 8 years. That's on average...for many people, like me, it takes years longer.

Years and thousands of dollars, which are putting people in the poorhouse (that's why I'm on welfare now, while waiting for disability to deign to accept me) and these doctors are gouging insurance companies all these years, doing nothing for their patients. Yet they bitch on the rare occasions that someone sues for malpractice!

And lest you think it's just hard-to-diagnose patients going through this wringer, try this on for size:

My aunt has had a stroke and congestive heart failure. Her mother had the same. Therefore, years ago, when her legs started to swell, I suggested that she see her doctor for a referral to a cardiologist, because edema is one of the first symptoms of CHF. Her doctor flatly refused to refer her to a cardiologist. A couple years ago, my aunt couldn't swallow, and she had an appt. with her doctor, so my mom took her there to see what was going on. Pretty soon, my aunt's face drooped on the left side, and vomit was dripping from her mouth. When my mother told the receptionist about this, and asked to see the doc because it was an emergency, you want to know what the bitch had the nerve to say when she came out?

"What's all the commotion about?"

Well, that "commotion" turned out to be a stroke, the effects of which could've been minimized with the administration of medication when it first happened--i.e., if the doctor hadn't been such a bitch, forcing them to wait, when they knew there was an emergency, she could've called an ambulance. As it is, my aunt's regained some use of the left side of her face, and she can now eat without observation...but she'd have been a lot better off with a compassionate doctor getting her treatment in time.

They ran a bunch of tests on her in the hospital, and still missed the congestive heart failure which sent her to the hospital again just a short time later.

All this happened in the Mayo Clinic system, folks, Mayo being (supposedly) one of the greatest clinics in the world. In this clinic, by the way, it's protocol for doctors not to deign to speak to the employees; only to other doctors, because the "little people" aren't good enough for them. I know this for a fact--my mother used to work there, for over a decade.

Bottom line: DO NOT tell me there are good doctors around. Good doctors are the MINORITY, quacks the VAST MAJORITY. All they care about is money, golf, and expensive cars, in that order. I hope every single doctor who has ever screwed over an innocent patient burns in the deepest depths of hell, for the majority of them are like George W. Bush: unfeeling, uncaring, greedy bastards who prey on the weakest of the weak.

End of story.

[barb162]

20. I love you, I absolutely love you and I don't even know you!!!

I have had the same problems. For allergies it took about ten doctors to finally get to an allergist. I had doctors telling me I should see a shrink even though I was sitting in front of them with a staph infection and bronchitis and high fever. I was constantly sick for an entire year before I got diagnosed, constantly on antibiotics because they were always treating symptoms instead of trying to get to the cause, which was severe allergy to mold and dust. When I finally got to the allergy doc she told me the typical person she sees has gone to about ten to 15 MDs and these docs are telling her patients they should be seeing a shrink.

I have had the same thing happen to me on other illnesses. I believe most don't know what the hell they are doing. I am going through the same thing right now on something else. It's like they can't put anything together.

By the way, the same thing applies to dentists, vets, etc. I just had my regular dentist tell me I had periodontal disease, which I didn't believe as I had NO symptoms. Um, coincidentally he just got himslef a new laser drill which he has to pay off. I went to get two consultations by periodontists before I had the expensive work done and the periodontal guys told me I have no sign at all of this disease, that my gums were very healthy. Needless to say I dropped this dentist and got another one.

Yes, quacks are the vast majority and I also think there are the ones who know DAMNED well you don't have something and are willing to do procedures you don't need, just like my ex-dentist. They don't care if they cost you money and pain. Think of all the needless surgeries done in this country because these docs want to make a fast buck. They don't give a shit.

[faithnotgreed]

24. sadly - you are so right on. sorry for your pain and everyone elses

caused by the worst medical system in the wealthiest of nations. morally bankrupt at the highest levels, but they are going to make sure they get paid.

actually some arent so unfeeling, i think they are much like other americans. they just dont know any better because they have their own sicknesses (interpret that as you will). i think the din and the pressure has gotten to many decent people until they have become worn down and a bit zombie like.

like many things, its complicated. but theres no doubt its a pretty broken system unless you have wonderful insurance or have money. even then you will still likely be bounced around before anyone correctly diagnoses you, but you just wont have the additional burden of wondering how youre going to pay for it.

[chookie]

22. He is to doctors what Tom Hagan was to lawyers

(Tom Hagan was the Godfather's consigliere -- a bright boy he sponsored to put through law school, to learn the law and how to use it to protect and advise the family business.)

His family runs the biggest HMO in the country, right? Think they expected him to heal the sick, or just be their own guy in the medical establishment, and eventually penetrate Congress?

His statements today were not representative of credible peer-reviewed medical organizations. He's just playing a doctor on tv.

[Skittles]

25. just showing how much of a Bush Whore he is

when he blows medical ethics to the wind.....not that I am in any way implying he actually f***ing HAD any

[MaryH]

2. I saw it, too

That whole abstinence is the answer to all of the world's problems is just a joke.

The problem now is that the federal govt programs are teaching false information. Half of all gay teens are HIV positive? Condoms don't work 15% of the time? You can get AIDS from tears and sweat?

Back to the old days of sex only for children. And abstinence the rest of the time. Back to families of 15 children.

[1monster]

6. A person who shall remain unamed, highly respected in this area, once

gave a seminar to seventh and eighth grade students on the prevention of STDs when I was present. This person told the students that condoms were effective less than half the time, and implied that the rate was even less than that. The person pretty much suggested not using condoms at all.

This person was pushing abstinence as the only way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs.

Too bad that the people pushing the abstinence program can't seem to be honest with the kids. I see no reason why the kids cannot be told the truth along with the very real truth that kids under (and many over) age eighteen are not physically, mentally, or psychically ready for sexual relationships.

[Spinzonner]

9. Perhaps not

But if Babs and GHWB had practiced it there'd be a fare number less problems.

So don't knock partial solutions ...

[autorank]

3. He's an f'ing serial cat killer! Which makes him very unpopular on DU.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

5. And for those in the audience who haven't heard the story...

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021231-071056-3546r

Frist asked to atone for killing cats
By Dee Ann Divis
Science and Technology Editor
Published 12/31/2002 8:13 PM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is being asked by an animal advocacy group to support legislation for better animal treatment to make up for fraudulently adopting cats from animal shelters then experimenting on and killing them while he was a medical student.

A Dec. 31 letter from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Frist to make amends by pressing for reforms that would replace old-style tests where animals are subjected to painful and sometimes deadly procedures with newer, more humane approaches. They also requested that he help fund research to find non-animal alternatives.

Frist acknowledged in a 1989 book that he routinely killed cats while an ambitious medical student at Harvard Medical School in the 1970s. His office said it had no record on how many cats died. Frist disclosed that he went to animal shelters and pretended to adopt the cats, telling shelter personnel he intended to keep them as pets. Instead he used them to sharpen his surgical skills, killing them in the process.

"It was a heinous and dishonest thing to do," Frist wrote, in a passage quoted by The Boston Globe. On Tuesday, Frist's press aide, Nick Smith, told United Press International that "Senator Frist denounces the activities that he did while he was in medical school -- as he has done before."

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. ...and the original expose, from the Boston Globe

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14308

As for Bill Frist, the millionaire Tennessee sawbones, everything you need to know about this unpleasant man was contained in one short paragraph of a profile of Frist by Michael Kranish in the Boston Globe Sunday magazine for Oct. 27, 2002, when Frist was in Boston, first at Harvard Medical School and then at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"Frist is an animal lover who said his decision to become a doctor was clinched when he helped heal a friend's dog. But Frist now found himself forced to kill animals during medical research. And his new dilemma was finding enough animals to kill. Soon, he began lying to obtain more animals. He went to the animal shelters around Boston and promised he would care for the cats as pets. Then he killed them during experiments. 'It was a heinous and dishonest thing to do,' Frist wrote. 'I was going a little crazy.'"

[neebob]

10. The fact that he did it and then published an admission

just proves he's a psychopath. Psychopaths seem to lack an understanding or perhaps a fear of consequences. Frist thinks he can say he lied and killed animals out of ambition, and then say it was heinous and dishonest, and people will believe he's a good guy with a conscience. And sadly, many people do. That's how these assholes operate.

[OutsourceBush]

18. Great...and he is one of the front-runners for the repukes in 2008

he can do a lot more torture than Bush, and we though bush was bad

[barb162]

21. Yeah, a true POS!

[Sparkly]

4. Incredible!!

He should have his license revoked for that.

[illflem]

8. That abstinence is the answer

could only come from a bunch of Viagra addicted republicans

[Quakerfriend]

14. Frist has become increasingly rabid with power

IMO. On a similar note: Everyone ought to read Full Disclosure by Dr. Gary Glum. This book is not found in any bookstores, but can be found in some remote locations (search on Gary Glum) on line. This tells the story of how HIV was created by the US government. Yes created. No lie. After speaking with Dr. Glum and reading his book I, sadly, believe every word of it. Having worked for the NIH for 12 years, in clinical research, I believe this is true.

[mistertrickster]

11. He should have his MD license revoked. Repeating LIES just so he

can toady to the right-wingers' bias.

Where'd he get his MD degree anyway? Walmart?

[mrdmk]

13. Dr. Points talker

This guy makes no sense what so ever, he just repeats the talking points.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

17. Frist is a scumbag

.

[spanone]

19. He's Creepy.

[devilgrrl]

23. Frist reminds me of Joseph Mengele

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/mengele/index_1.html

[LosinIt]

26. I'm sorry, that is just too close of a resemblance

freaks me the fuck out.

[Tennessee Gal]

27. Just be glad he isn't your senator.

It stinks here in Tennessee.