American Corporate Arrogance Knows No Bounds

Peace of mind regarding your own health has value. I doubt this is the way to do it, but that doesn't make "you're probably ok" a valid answer to a possibly sick person.

I wonder if this company knows that they are breaking the law for charging it's clients for this service? Could it be an intention of theirs to start stirring up more healthcare trouble? I'm suspicious of the motives they had for entering Canada... don't they have enough demand in the US if they actually DO provide a useful service, let alone facing the possibility of being fined for breaking the Canada Health Act.

Donizetti wrote an opera called L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love) about a travelling 'doctor' who sold potions for everything, including a cure for lovesickness to a village simpleton. And then fled town.

When these guys pack up their Windstars and drive off into the sunset, whose gonna chase them down if these tests are a load of bogus nonsense? They may have done 2 million of these 'tests' on Americans but more Americans than that bought pet rocks, too.

The test seems to be nothing more than a common ultrasound screen which would have a highly suspect number of false positives and only very minimal success at identifying real problems. I'm betting these people can't provide any independent measures of the 'benefits' derived from these screens. Have a look at some of the guff on their website (http://www.lifelinescreening.com/).

I'm smelling snake oil.

Paul Harris

If you read their pamphlet, it sure sounds like scare tactics to me.

The vulnerable in our society want good health, and this is one sure way to take their money for no apparent good reason.

Snake oil, with a Capital Snake !

A $25k fine would help, but they have to catch them first.

They are apparently going to set up in a church shortly, so our cops should be there to wait for them to collect the money, right ?

I'm not betting on it.



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"One crisis at a time is life's motto" - Carl Sagan
Jim Callaghan
Minden, Ontario
705-286-1860
www.misterc.ca

I looked at their website for screening for the carotid arteries for stroke risk. The following is taken directly from it:
"A stroke results from the disruption of adequate blood flow to the brain. The most common source of disruption is a significant narrowing or blockage of the carotid arteries caused by excessive accumulation of fatty plaque buildup along the artery walls. The carotid arteries are the main blood supply to the brain, and plaque buildup in these arteries is the leading cause of stroke."

This either demonstrates a complete misunderstading or a deliberate attempt to mislead regarding about what a stroke actually is. The first sentence is not a correct definition of a stroke. A stroke is a complete blockage of blood flow to part of the brain. To say it is a disruption is misleading because the test they are selling is to assess for carotid artery stenosis (narrowing of the carotid arteries by buildup of plaque) and this typically results in either symptoms of dizziness or syncope (fainting) long before any plaque breaks off to form a clot in the brain. Also, to say that these plaques are the most common source of clots is false, as the material that can potentially cause a clot in the brain can travel from anywhere in the body and does not have to originate from a site close to the brain. For example, a common place that clots form in the body of the elderly are the veins in the legs, which can break off and travel anywhere in the body. The last statement is categorically false because there is simply no way to determine the origin of a clot that has caused a stroke.

Also, on the first page of their website they are advocating that patients follow up with their family doctor after the test to review the results of it. From what I have heard about family doctors in Ontario it sounds like they are already under considerable time contraints to address the needs of "legitimate" patient needs. Can you imagine what additional stresses would be created by tens of thousands of people wanting to discuss results of unnecessary tests never mind the cost?

Also, what about licensing of these technicians? Is it not required to be specifically certified to do this procedure in Ontario, or is this another case of a private company stealing much needed personnel from the public system?

Today it says in the Toronto Star the company has decided to pull out of Ontario, due to the attention that they are getting in the press and from overnight government regulations that would force them to pay large fines if caught working in this province.

The company calls it "retreating from the Ontario market."

So far, so good.

It's just a small part of another story on Ontario expanding MRI services.

Good for the Libs this time.

Article:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 8342212737


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"One crisis at a time is life's motto" - Carl Sagan
Jim Callaghan
Minden, Ontario
705-286-1860
www.misterc.ca

Yeah, this time, but they`re still not doing enough to protect health care from privatization! NAFTA is the enemy, and people have to make it known to the Canadian public.

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Dave Ruston