Sunday House Call, #582, August 7, 2016: Health Care death by a thousand cuts

 

Topics today include:

Dr. Dworkin is joined by Dr. David Jacobs as they discuss the new OMA agreement and how it will affect your access to health services. Moving on to caller’s questions, he gives advice on the idea of banning foods to solve obesity and information about hip and back surgery.

 

For the general public reading news reports of negotiations between the Ontario government and its physicians is like watching the proverbial paint dry. You hope that the painted room will look attractive but you do not want to watch it happening. You just want to see the results.

The latest round of negotiations between your doctor and the Ontario is one of those times where the outcome will have a lasting effect on your ability to access medical services and you won’t be able to change the decor.

What I would like to do is to try to bring out the main points that should be first and foremost of concern to you and why that is so. I will also state at the beginning of this interview that my personal bias is that I think this deal is wrong and I will be voting no against it.

However, the Ontario Medical Association has been pushing hard for a yes vote to the degree that it’s voting mechanism was challenged in court and found to be “sneaky” by an Ontario Superior Court Judge.

One of many groups who has recommended rejecting the deal is the Ontario Association of Radiologists. You have heard their advertisements in the media and on this station.

 

Joining us today is Dr. David Jacobs. He is

Chair of Diagnostic Imaging

Member of the OMA Negotiations Advisory Committee

Toronto and Northern Ontario radiologist