re: #682 The Shadow Do

First, why is centralized record keeping so important?

Second, if it is do you not think this should be a third party undertaking? If government is the keeper it seems to me that there will be nothing but political manipulation of the data, no?

I see 3 different “specialists” for 3 different problems. Explaining to any one doctor what has changed regarding the other two other problems is a bit of a challenge, and medications prescribed has more than once been a guess, and has involved delays and phone calls and records faxed back and forth.

My general practitioner needs to keep track of all 3 issues, and all 3 specialists need to refer back to the G.P. for “regular” health references. My G.P. carries around a notebook P.C. and records all the information he can think to ask. We both agree that it would be to everyone’s advantage if the specialists could just enter the info into a ‘common database’, and all 4 could use the information to make a diagnosis, or scientific wild ass guess, which is usually the case.

There is absolutely no reason why the government would need to be involved in this at all. There should be a centralized database available, though, because that would take most of the initial guesswork out of things.

I can give you arguments for and against letting the government have full access to this. The way the government operates currently, most of my arguments would be against. If the government ever began operating the way they should (promoting the “general welfare”), I could give you arguments supporting access.