Dr. Thompson's Blog

VOTING and HEALTH CARE

This is a Crucial election and with the major efforts the Republicans are making to suppress the vote, I hope Democrats and Independents will make a special effort not only to vote, but to help get out the vote. If the Republicans take over the Senate, they will not only try to impeach President Obama, but they will also repeal the Affordable Health Care Law.  This is despite over ten million people now having health insurance who previously did not  have it. In Kentucky 500,000 more people are now insured due to the Medicaid expansion. What a tragedy it would be for them to lose their health insurance. Fifty percent of the  people having to declare bankruptcy has been due to medical bills. Do we want that to happen again? What about  kids not being able to be on their parents'' insurance until they are 26, if the Republicans have their way?  If Obamacare is repealed, the nasty insurance companies will be able to cancel your insurance if the medical charges are too high. Pre-existing conditions will no longer be covered and on and on.

We are the only major civilized nation in the world that does not provide complete health care for their citizens. Our legislators should be ashamed. We cannot and must not allow the Republicans to take over the Senate. So please vote, make calls, register voters and talk to your family members.  Our young people must vote or they will pay a high price in the next few years.

High School Football Deaths

I am certainly glad I don't have a son or grandson pkaying football these days. The year my son played Varsity football was not an easy year, particularly since I was probably the only physician attending the games. Occasionally, his father, an orthopedic surgeon, was there which made me breathe a little easier. Now when I read about all the deaths occurring on high school football fields or soon after due to injuries, I am very sad for the parents and extended families. I wonder if it isn't time to require EKGs and other heart or cardiac studies for every teenager or college student who is going to play football. I know some of the private schools are doing this, but why not public schools?

The loss of a child is something that can scar parents and families for the rest of their lives. I know this well having lost a daughter to breast cancer. The pain is always there and as one parent said, who lost a son to muscular dystrophy, "You never accept the death, you just adjust to it." But isn't there anything that parents of football players can do? I think there is. I would demand that the proper helmets are being used and that the youth have good, and I mean extensive examinations, before being allowed to play. A cursory listening to the heart is not satisfactory. I hope some of the parents who have lost their sons to football injuries will join together and demand better care of other sons. Parents do have POWER. I would use it to save future boys and young men from injuries that could be prevented.

This last week, three high school football players died of injuries. That is tragic and we must prevent more deaths from this dangerous game. Then, there are the long-term brain injuries that professional football players are experiencing. Is this game really that important?