Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Inaccurate Lab Results

Posted On May 12, 2009 on Mercola.com after the article stating:
Quest Diagnostics (Laboratories) Pays $302 Million Fine

"I worked at Quest screening microscopically for cancer and related diseases as a cytologist and was pushed to screen more slides than was possible to do accurately. When I found a missed Pap smear case from the past after calling the current one on the same patient positive, I quit. All they cared about was how many slides I could get myself to screen each day, not whether or not I found cancer or precancerous changes on the slides. It was all about money. I was told if we didn't screen at least 75 slides a day the stock share holders would get mad and our department would not get a bonus. 60 was all I could do accurately. In Canada and other socialized medicine countries the max allowed by law is only 40-50 slides per day to ensure cancer screening is done accurately. I have found so many missed cases throughout the years in cytology I'd be a billionairre had the whistle blowing laws been in effect then. I helped get the law passed however and CLIA '88 as well.

I am waiting for Quest to get busted for missed Paps as the cytologists are working in sweat shop conditions being forced to daily screen the max allowed by US law (100 slides per day) which is not humanly possible to do with accuracy day in and day out. There isn't even time for a bathroom break at this speed.

suzanne

cytologist

doctor's wife of 15 years"

Unfortunately, when profit is the main goal, ethics falter, and people suffer. A friend and I have noticed increasingly, that the work ethic in America in general is dysfunctional. Try to get a contractor to do a job right, for instance. The Government agencies 'protecting' the consumer are dysfunctional. They protect the business that ensures they get their paychecks and kickbacks. This morning I saw a little news on the telly, which was sadly comical. School children are being told to walk more to prevent or fix obesity, while the corporations are allowed to use their GMO-produced High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sulfites in the food, etc., to set these kids up. Milk, hot dogs, soda and Doritos, lots of bread, donuts, etc. are the standard fare. One school bought rubber balls for all the kids to sit on to replace the chairs, to burn more calories.
Lab tests that are inaccurate, after people are charged bloated prices to see a 'practitioner and get lab work so they can be put on pharmaceuticals has to be a tragicomedy. My retired friend realized that with his $500+ Kaiser insurance monthly bill and the dentist office, he is putting out about $1000 a month. In one hour, the dentist made $500, while working on other patients in other rooms. The sad thing there, is there's no non-toxic material to put in teeth, so we pay bloated prices to create immune drains.
Momma said there'd be days like this? What is the 'world' coming to? Better yet, what has America come to? When mothers give babies 10 times the amount of flame retardant chemicals in their breast milk than European Union countries with better laws, when we've allowed an invasion of the Pharma corps to drug up to 1/3 of the classroom, etc., what is our future? And I thought I needed to write a book about why we've ensured our society would fail with sexual abuse or one on the mistreatment of our elderly....

2 comments:

Kathryn said...

I couldn't agree with you more. Yet if you say even a small portion of this info to 80-90% of the population they look at you like you're insane. It is so hard to educate folks who get their info from the mainstream media - especially all those commercials.

Most of my family thinks i'm crazy for being fussy about where the food comes from.

Most people just don't "get" this, what's more, they don't want to.

Pamela Cohen said...

Oh Kathryn, What you observe and share is too common, and it's heartbreaking. I have been ridiculed by some of my children who are too young or foolish to realize education costs time and research, but ignorance can cost your life and/or health. They seem to listen when their health becomes a crisis. Some of my friends follow this same pattern of scoffing and resisting change, and then gasping for a life raft when their body has had enough abuse.
I suppose taking care of oneself is paramount, and setting a good example. I'm building two raised bed gardens and an herb garden this year, and my little greenhouse is also on the refurbishing list. I will probably can fruits and veggies this year.

It takes an effort to become informed and change eating habits. Since there is a plethora of chemicals and hormones and processing techniques that are detrimental to the human body and the nutrient value of food, for many it is seen as overwhelming, in a society where time and peace is eaten alive by demands and consumerist-focused values. So many are brainwashed by the media and their doctors who have become vampires of profit for the Pharmaceuticals. The majority of Americans have become the 7-11 generation of immediate gratification, and somehow equate modern man as some convenient plastic machine instead of an organism with cells that need to be replaced with vitamins, minerals, proteins, essential fatty acids from food with live enzymes and as little pollutants and toxic chemicals as possible.
My mother has had her hair dyed numerous times over the years, and has some kind of dementia, most likely from the heavy metal poisoning in the dyes. A sister who took Hormone Replacement Therapy now has a blood clot that ruptured her kidney, and regardless of my warning and plea for her to use garlic to thin her blood and fish oil to relax the blood vessels, she listened to her doctor, and began taking Coumadin. I watch the stupid TV commercials at a friend's house (as I refuse to have a TV) pushing Crystal LIght as a way to get more water, when the Aspartame in it causes numerous health issues, like brain tumors and seizures. We are surrounded by empty food, chemicals and irradiated produce, sulfites sprayed on salads and put in boxed juices and processed foods. I welcome healthy food ideas on this blog at a time when we are deluged with so much garbage, it is hard to find anything safe to eat in a grocery store. I think every other blog post needs to be about healthy foods and practices for us and our families.