After A Little Poking Dr Muskett Rises Again

Today's Billings Gazette, perhaps to balance the usual crap from the Associated Press (AP), publishes some wise observations from Billings' own cardiac-turned-plastic surgeon, Dr Alan Muskett. Employing his usual acerbic but gently ironic wit on his and his friends practice of surgery he tells us, perhaps sub-consciously, a good deal of what our surgical friends are thinking about as they take care of the witless ones among us.

Physicians, especially surgeons—I hope that the surgeons will not object to being included in the larger category of physicians—have long taken care of people that don't pay them, perhaps balancing this with a slightly larger bill to those who can pay; and then more recently they accept the government's stingy reward of quite a bit less than the going rate for surgical care for us old geezers, without charging more to those who can pay—most of them even take the laughable amount that Medicaid offers. But in telling us what they are thinking while taking call for drunks and other less than sterling citizens, I suspect that Dr Muskett is asking us to read between the lines. There may be a line between the lines that we are getting closer to than we care to admit, especially when our DC lords and masters get done reforming the practice of medicine.
Paging Dr John Galt.

In any event, any column by Dr Muskett is always a good read. He entertains us, he instructs us and he warns us of our many follies.