In the latest display of ignorance on the part of government officials, Rep. Diane Black, Republican of Tennessee, said health care professionals should have the right to refuse treatment at hospital emergency rooms, and the proposed changes in federal health care rules will solve that problem.
In an interview with Chuck Todd of NBC, Rep. Black said she was speaking as a nurse who formerly worked in hospitals, adding that a return to free market principles in health care would be a good thing.
Problem: Health care is not a free market, and if it ever was, a return to that status would mean medical help would be available only to those who could afford to pay for it.
Health care professionals take an oath to provide help to any and all who need it. Secondly, hospitals are required by law and ethics to care for any sick person who enters an emergency room. To enable or encourage hospital personnel to turn away anyone, for any reason, would be a violation of law and ethics, as well as humanity and morality.
Hippocrates would be appalled.
Add that comment to the statement by the president that during his tour of storm ravaged Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, he met with "the president of the Virgin Islands."
Huh? There is no such person or position. The Virgin Islands is not an independent country, and therefore does not have a president. It is a U.S. territory, as is Puerto Rico. This is another example of the president's apparent belief that the people of these islands are not Americans, and therefore are not entitled to receive help from the federal government for any extended period.
And don't forget the president's threat to have NBC's license revoked. You can't revoke what doesn't exist. Licenses are issued to individual stations, not to the network. Better luck trying to revoke the First Amendment.
Ignorance has gone viral in this administration.
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