Walmart ER! I can't WAIT to hurt myself!

[stinkyattic]

Does this disturb anyone else?
YouTube - McCAIN: SICK? GO TO WALMART !! Emergency Rooms You'll Die For (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfxjL-YjT6U&eurl=)

McCain is really out of touch. I wonder if he has ever been to a Walmart, or is aware of the anti-labor and discriminatory practices they employ, or how they shit on their employees until they simply don't care anymore... And here he is promoting them as a host for EMERGENCY MEDICAL CLINICS?

AWESOME idea. I award you a 2-for-1 special. You can get your monthly physical where you assure the electorate you haven't died yet, and your running mate can have an hour on The Sofa, with a mental health professional who graduated from Baby Doc U last week, all for only 14.99!

[chongman420]

I have nothing against Walmart, its employees, or McCain but... have you seen the people that work at Walmart? Are those the kind of people you want working on you and your family in an emergency? Wow, McCain really hit the nail on the head that time! How about they have a drive-up window so you don't even have to get out of your car:thumbsup: Maybe McDonald's could jump on the ER bandwagon. "Would you like fries while you're getting your stitches, ma'am?":D LMAO!

[texas grass]

i dont like walmart much
i feel sorry for their employs and small towns that allow them into their citys/countys and end up screwed
he thinks you wouldnt have to wait in a line. thats rediculous, walmart is the king of not having customer service/help and having long lines because they only have 3 lines open for 50 people. even their pharmacy has long lines and waites.

mccain and the corperate interest go hand in hand

[dragonrider]

If McCain is elected president, every day of the next four years will feel just like a Walmart colonoscopy.

[GoldenBoy812]

I absolutely fucking love (thats some love) Walmart.

Besides the store, do you notice anything else? Hair cuts, contacts, pictures, shit food, BANKING, and subway can all be found at my local Walmart. I must admit that Walmart is not in the same category as Sams or my personal Fave Costco, but a distant third no doubt.

From a jobs creation standpoint, they are wonderful to any community. Cheap prices, well paying jobs (do you actually think pharmacists/ophthalmologists get paid shit?) in every aspect of the store, and food. Come on, you have to agree somewhat how "neat" it really is.

For a little experiment, bring a foreign friend to Costco, Sams if you have to. Start at the cheap ass food place to blow their mind. Explain to them that they get two slices of pizza hut equivilant (imho) pizza plus a drink for $2.50. Then, you bring them to the liquor isle. That alone will totally freak them completely out, but you have to save the best for last. You go to the middle of the store to see all the latest stuff. Such as complete outdoor 25'x25' canopy sets, high end jewelry ($5,000 and up in Costco), and those 12 packs of Pur/ Brita water filters:jointsmile:.

Who here believes that in 20 years, Walmart will have a dine in restaurant with drinks, gym, doctor/hospital, and probably even movie theater? I do, and i personally think that would lead to more stds, but fuck it when you have a bar, gym, and hospital in the same place, it sounds like a pretty safe place to chill. Except that they will have to bring cops to keep the crime down. Nobody wants a biker gang to take over the generic named restaurants bar in their local walword, i mean walmart. Hell, while they are at it they should connect apartments adjacently so you do not have to drive all the way home to consume your stuff...:S5:

Perhaps that is a bit much. None the less i still love it.

[Hollywierdtoker]

Perhaps that is a bit much. None the less i still love it.I think that about sums up your post haha :thumbsup: Still a fun thought to think about...interesting. I think this would be cool, if walmart wasn't evil haha.

[GrinKyle]

I Fucking hate Walmart...

but they treat their truck drivers like gods, which is good.

[flyingimam]

:yeahright:

i buy tostitos and quessos @ walmart with some coke.... thats it...
now, clinics? ERs!!!? in walmart?!?!??!... yeah my ass!

I got 1 freaking pair of eyeglasses & prescription from eye doctor @ WM and it took their own glass shop 3 times to get the prescription right!!!! 3 months going back n forth and sending it back n forth to their factory to resend the new ones still with wrong measures.

now i suppose i would have to trust them to have an emergency room... they dont got enough money to pay 7 bucks an hour to staff the registers... "EMERGENCY" room?? he must have missed his meds for a coupla days... such a joke:wtf:

[SnSstealth]

:S4:Wal Mart!!
WT

[dragonrider]

The surgeries available at Walmart are not of high quality, but they are very very cheap. You can get better quality procedures at Costco, but you have to buy way more than you want --- who needs a dozen heart bypasses? I can barely get through a quadruple myself. I usually just end up getting most of my surgical procedures at Target when I'm already there picking up toilet paper or something. Except for organ transplants --- I'm willing to pay a bit more and get those at Whole Foods, because I like to know my organs are organic.

[SnSstealth]

The surgeries available at Walmart are not of high quality, but they are very very cheap. You can get better quality procedures at Costco, but you have to buy way more than you want --- who needs a dozen heart bypasses? I can barely get through a quadruple myself. I usually just end up getting most of my surgical procedures at Target when I'm already there picking up toilet paper or something. Except for organ transplants --- I'm willing to pay a bit more and get those at Whole Foods, because I like to know my organs are organic.

:S2:word......
whiskeytango

[SnSstealth]

yeah, go running in to a walmart with blood shooting out or a broken limb and youll give the greeter and the old man in the power scooter a heart attack. the old man falls on the controls and he runs over the tax preparation stand. you spray blood on the 13 rugrats followed by what has to be the largest 4' tall woman youve ever seen on your way. all to have the grease covered highschooler in the medical department passout at the sight and go you into shock as the "doctor" reads a pamphlet to decide his next move

.....lol
db:smokin:

[dooobster]

yeah, go running in to a walmart with blood shooting out or a broken limb and youll give the greeter and the old man in the power scooter a heart attack. the old man falls on the controls and he runs over the tax preparation stand. you spray blood on the 13 rugrats followed by what has to be the largest 4' tall woman youve ever seen on your way. all to have the grease covered highschooler in the medical department passout at the sight and go you into shock as the "doctor" reads a pamphlet to decide his next move

.....lol
db:smokin:

Hahahaha!! I wanna see that.

[illnillinois]

:S4:Wal Mart!!
WT

tru dat

[Markass]

Sounds like Mccain trying to come up with more things that he thinks will gain the votes of americans...Fuck him..

[The Figment]

Health Care at Schwag-Mart????? Oh Hell NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

[daihashi]

Honestly I think the majority of people in this thread are missing the point due to the fact that he named Walmart disregarding the fact that he said any other large place (meaning where people gather).

Emergency room healthcare is one of the most widely abused systems in the healthcare industry, simply because it is illegal for a hospital to not see you regardless of why you are there.

Have a migraine.. go to the emergency room they'll fix you up with some aspirin right away and can't force you to pay. Sprained your ankle.. Emergency room coming right up; forget about the guy with the knife sticking out his side or the poor kid just just broke 30% of the bones in his body due to a horrific car crash. They'll fix you right up.

Point is this; when people need emergency healthcare there is a long wait for it and an expensive fee; both directly related to the abuse of the system. I know first hand as I deal with a number of people with debilitating diseases that truly need emergency healthcare at times and have to wait upwards of 6-12 hours to be seen.

In addition to this it wastes hospital resources which if you've been to any emergency room you can attest that they seem to be short on said resources (again due to abuse of the system).

Where I live we are starting to put small "Ready" clinics inside of HEB. There you can be seen by a nurse or physician to see you for SMALL issues;

Also the video is way out of context

Here is the full video in it's entirety which makes the proposal of a clinic inside walmart much less loony sounding:

YouTube - John McCain on Health Care and Wal-Mart Clinics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry7ScRcLnm8)

Come on, you're all smart people here. Surely people can put 2+2 together and not jump on the bashing bandwagon when the video was obviously clipped to make him sound like a lunatic. Even in the original posted video you'll notice he says "if you have a cold". Not "if you're 5 seconds near death".

I have a number of friends that use the Ready Clinics here in town and they are great for the purpose that they serve.

I'm sure someone will bash me.. go for it.

I won't deny that McCain is stumbling over his words and sounds a little dumb, but I can connect the dots to see where he was going.

[daihashi]

For those of you that don't know.. HEB is a grocery store here in the State of texas.. Thought I'd clarify that.

[stinkyattic]

I'd like to see any funding for that sort of thing actually go to non-affiliated, preferably non-profit, urgent care facilities rather than large for-profit retail entities.

I am a HUGE fan of using the local University's urgent care center, which is NOT an ER, for non-life-threatening but pressing matters such as strep tests, minor stuff that needs stitches, tetanus shots, ear infections, stuff like that. The ER charges me $50 copay... the University charges the same as an office visit, and you get seen within 10-20 minutes. Downside is sitting amongst the undergrads who are all there with alcohol poisoning... tut tut...

[daihashi]

I'd like to see any funding for that sort of thing actually go to non-affiliated, preferably non-profit, urgent care facilities rather than large for-profit retail entities.

I agree with this totally, but being a capitalist nation I don't see this happening; at least not as the norm.

More so I am glad someone would address the abuse in the emergency room at all as this is a widely overlooked problem. Something most people won't talk about since it's a touchy subject.


I am a HUGE fan of using the local University's urgent care center, which is NOT an ER, for non-life-threatening but pressing matters such as strep tests, minor stuff that needs stitches, tetanus shots, ear infections, stuff like that. The ER charges me $50 copay... the University charges the same as an office visit, and you get seen within 10-20 minutes. Downside is sitting amongst the undergrads who are all there with alcohol poisoning... tut tut...

I go to the ready clinic for alot of minor services myself as opposed to going to my bloated healthcare clinic that I go to for specialty services. I have a 2 hour wait at these clinics, and only a 10 minute wait at these minor services clinics.

I don't care if walmart opens up clinics nationwide or if it's the Redcross that suddenly get's a crap load of funding to do this. If we can avoid abuse in the emergency room then I'm all for it; regardless of who does it. Let's save the emergency visits for people who truly need it.

Word Stinkster.. Word!

[dragonrider]

A big reason why people abuse the ER when they don't have an emergency is that they do not have insurance or an ability to pay out of pocket. So, like Daihashi said, they cannot be turned away or forced to pay at the ER, and they end up going there for minor injuries or illnesses that are not emergencies because they won't be seen at all anywhere else.

Unless the clinic-in-every-Walmart plan solves the problem of being able to PAY for the care, it won't solve the ER abuse problem. Universal healthcare coverage will solve that problem by removing the economic need to use the ER for non-emergencies.

ER abuse is just another way in which we all pay for a healthcare system that leaves out millions of people. Even if it cost us all more in taxes to have universal coverage, we would all see some benefit in not having our ERs clogged with non-emergency cases who are only there because they cannot pay, and we would all see some benefit in not having those people's ER costs added to our bills to cover their non-payment. Getting everyone who is currenlty uninsured into a system where they can get preventative care, and the costs of their non-payment do not get distributed to everyone else, and there are not unnecessary ER visits is going to save a lot of money an inefficiency in the long run.

[daihashi]

A big reason why people abuse the ER when they don't have an emergency is that they do not have insurance or an ability to pay out of pocket. So, like Daihashi said, they cannot be turned away or forced to pay at the ER, and they end up going there for minor injuries or illnesses that are not emergencies because they won't be seen at all anywhere else.

Unless the clinic-in-every-Walmart plan solves the problem of being able to PAY for the care, it won't solve the ER abuse problem. Universal healthcare coverage will solve that problem by removing the economic need to use the ER for non-emergencies.

ER abuse is just another way in which we all pay for a healthcare system that leaves out millions of people. Even if it cost us all more in taxes to have universal coverage, we would all see some benefit in not having our ERs clogged with non-emergency cases who are only there because they cannot pay, and we would all see some benefit in not having those people's ER costs added to our bills to cover their non-payment. Getting everyone who is currenlty uninsured into a system where they can get preventative care, and the costs of their non-payment do not get distributed to everyone else, and there are not unnecessary ER visits is going to save a lot of money an inefficiency in the long run.

The ready clinic here in town is very cheap and even offers some free services.

People could save a lot of money by going to these clinics and taking advantage of some of the free services they do offer. Personally I go out of convenience more than for fiscal reasons. HEB's are everywhere in town (using personal example from the city where I live).

While I recognize that some people genuinely can't afford asthma medicine for themselves or their loved ones.. I find it hard to believe that the majority of people that go to the emergency room can't afford some of the more simple things like that. I say I find it hard to believe because I grew up in an extremely low income family, in a poor area of town and we made sure that we could set aside some money to get some very basic things done at the free clinic (there are a few) or go to see a private physician who had good prices (people need to shop around for a doctor as well).

Again, I do acknowledge that there are people who genuinely can't afford these services and i am in no way demeaning them or disregarding their needs but fact remains that there are a good portion of people that abuse the system simply because they can.

[rebgirl420]

I like Walmart.

I worked at Walmart. They treated me very well.

I know many people who have worked at Walmart who have been treated very well.

I (heart) capitalism.

Daihashi's #17 post was pretty much everything I was thinking.

[DTRave420]

For a little experiment, bring a foreign friend to Costco, Sams if you have to. Start at the cheap ass food place to blow their mind. Explain to them that they get two slices of pizza hut equivilant (imho) pizza plus a drink for $2.50.

Please oh please tell me you don't really think PizzaHut makes good pizza!!!:420thought:

[GoldenBoy812]

Please oh please tell me you don't really think PizzaHut makes good pizza!!!:420thought:

Oh no, thats not what i was saying.

You get two gigantic slices and a large drink for $2.50! Or you can buy the whole pizza for $7.00. Or a .75L of Patron for $38.50:jointsmile:

[DTRave420]

Oh no, thats not what i was saying.

You get two gigantic slices and a large drink for $2.50! Or you can buy the whole pizza for $7.00. Or a .75L of Patron for $38.50:jointsmile:

Well OK,That sounds like a good deal...Just don't you dare enjoy it,lol!!!

PEACE GoldenBoy:420thought:

[dragonrider]

Oh no, thats not what i was saying.

You get two gigantic slices and a large drink for $2.50! Or you can buy the whole pizza for $7.00. Or a .75L of Patron for $38.50:jointsmile:

A whole pizza and a bottle of Patron is s pretty good night for under $50.

[5016169]

No way in hell would I visit a walmart doctor. I mean I HATE going to walmart for anything and try to avoid it at all costs. When I do go there, inevitably something happens that makes me say: "FUCK I HATE WALMART!"

[daihashi]

Another thing people fail to realize is that if a clinic were to open in a Walmart or any other large department store; it would not be walmart owned or walmart run.

Walmart does not own the Mcdonalds inside their stores, nor do they own the photographers shop, nor the eye doctor, hair & nail salon, banking center, or any other business you may see up at the front of the store.

All these places rent space from Walmart; that is the limit of their affiliation with Walmart.

Instead of getting up in arms at something you believe to sound ludicrous; take a step back.. think for a second.. take the name Walmart out of the picture; and remember this is for minor needs only. Everyone here is being judgemental just because of the company that was mentioned but fact is that it could be any large department store and even if this isn't advocated for by a group there's a large chance that many stores will start incorporating these minor needs clinics.

As I said before; we have Ready Clinics being implemented at a Grocery Store chain here in Texas (HEB) and they are great for the purpose they serve. No lines, no expensive fee's and best of all you can go do your grocery shopping when you're done :thumbsup:

For a demographic of people (cannabis users) who claim to be fairly open minded everyone in this thread for the most part seems closed minded. Guess what, this is America and you can choose to not go there even if you decide to be bias without trying it out first. That's the beauty of this country; freedom of choice. :thumbsup:

[thcbongman]

Honestly I think the majority of people in this thread are missing the point due to the fact that he named Walmart disregarding the fact that he said any other large place (meaning where people gather).

Emergency room healthcare is one of the most widely abused systems in the healthcare industry, simply because it is illegal for a hospital to not see you regardless of why you are there.

Have a migraine.. go to the emergency room they'll fix you up with some aspirin right away and can't force you to pay. Sprained your ankle.. Emergency room coming right up; forget about the guy with the knife sticking out his side or the poor kid just just broke 30% of the bones in his body due to a horrific car crash. They'll fix you right up.

Point is this; when people need emergency healthcare there is a long wait for it and an expensive fee; both directly related to the abuse of the system. I know first hand as I deal with a number of people with debilitating diseases that truly need emergency healthcare at times and have to wait upwards of 6-12 hours to be seen.

In addition to this it wastes hospital resources which if you've been to any emergency room you can attest that they seem to be short on said resources (again due to abuse of the system).

Where I live we are starting to put small "Ready" clinics inside of HEB. There you can be seen by a nurse or physician to see you for SMALL issues;

Also the video is way out of context

Here is the full video in it's entirety which makes the proposal of a clinic inside walmart much less loony sounding:

YouTube - John McCain on Health Care and Wal-Mart Clinics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry7ScRcLnm8)

Come on, you're all smart people here. Surely people can put 2+2 together and not jump on the bashing bandwagon when the video was obviously clipped to make him sound like a lunatic. Even in the original posted video you'll notice he says "if you have a cold". Not "if you're 5 seconds near death".

I have a number of friends that use the Ready Clinics here in town and they are great for the purpose that they serve.

I'm sure someone will bash me.. go for it.

I won't deny that McCain is stumbling over his words and sounds a little dumb, but I can connect the dots to see where he was going.

ER systems are "abused" because people have trouble seeing a doctor on time. There are many people who have serious diseases that must see someone right away if they are exhibiting certain symptoms. It's hard to quantify abuse. Sure they are those cases where someone goes in for a headache with no pre-existing conditions or a sprained ankle which is why these clinics would be good. But those are few and far inbetween what most go to the ER. Most of the time, nothing is found, but that does mean it's abuse? I'm sure you know first hand what I speak of. It's not like these visits are free, I still get statements from emergency room visits 2 years ago!

Point being is efforts like this from the private industry are needed to in order to bring health care costs down. People need options when it comes to health care in order to lessen the burden on hospitals.

[daihashi]

ER systems are "abused" because people have trouble seeing a doctor on time. There are many people who have serious diseases that must see someone right away if they are exhibiting certain symptoms. It's hard to quantify abuse. Sure they are those cases where someone goes in for a headache with no pre-existing conditions or a sprained ankle which is why these clinics would be good. Most of the time, nothing is found, but that does mean it's abuse? I'm sure you know first hand what I speak of. It's not like these visits are free, I still get statements from emergency room visits 2 years ago!

Point being is efforts like this from the private industry are needed to in order to bring health care costs down. People need options when it comes to health care in order to lessen the burden on hospitals.

I know about people who have diseases.. As I said I assist many people in my life with MS, Crohns, Gastroparesis and POTS. These are not the people who abuse the system.

I take it you've never gone to an ER on a weekly basis for 2-3 months straight and seen what type of issues people go in there for?

Abuse of the ER directly attributes to the cost of health in hospitals.


But those are few and far inbetween what most go to the ER.

This is absolutely false. It happens WAY more often than you'd like to believe. I practically lived in the ER for 3 months, and I still usually go at least once a month or once every other month for my friends that I care for/assist. In addition to this you get people that go to the doctor specifically to try to get a pill fix. Yes it happens often and the doctors cannot refuse them. So they keep them there for a little bit; where they occupy floor space or if they're so lucky.. a room that could be used for someone who genuinely has an emergency.

[Weedhound]

Ok....two things.....One: ..what is a "ready clinic"

Golden Boy your blue dobie is stunning! Gorgeous dog. Sorry for threadjack..

[daihashi]

Ok....two things.....One: ..what is a "ready clinic"

Golden Boy your blue dobie is stunning! Gorgeous dog. Sorry for threadjack..

A ready clinic is just what they call them.. It would be the equivelant of calling it "Joe blows minor needs clinic".

They have a nurse and physician on staff.

You can go there for things that are minor.. such as:

sprained ankle
cold/flu
pink eye
strep throat
UTI
ear infections
some testing.. screening

etc etc.. you get the point.. things that are annoying but not really critical. Things you would normally have to schedule an appointment with a doctor for.. wait in line.. see your doctor.. pay a fat co-pay or FEE if you don't have insurance... and possibly be sent home with them saying "take 2 ibuprofen a day".. something you could've probably figured out on your own eventually.

I use it for minor things since it's cheap.. and if I need a script there's a pharmacy in the store that doesn't charge me an arm and a leg; unlike if I went to a larger clinic or hospital where they charge outrageous fee's to fill a script.

And after I get checked out, get my script filled.. I can do some cheap grocery shopping!! YAY!

[thcbongman]

I know about people who have diseases.. As I said I assist many people in my life with MS, Crohns, Gastroparesis and POTS. These are not the people who abuse the system.

I take it you've never gone to an ER on a weekly basis for 2-3 months straight and seen what type of issues people go in there for?

Abuse of the ER directly attributes to the cost of health in hospitals.



This is absolutely false. It happens WAY more often than you'd like to believe. I practically lived in the ER for 3 months, and I still usually go at least once a month or once every other month for my friends that I care for/assist. In addition to this you get people that go to the doctor specifically to try to get a pill fix. Yes it happens often and the doctors cannot refuse them. So they keep them there for a little bit; where they occupy floor space or if they're so lucky.. a room that could be used for someone who genuinely has an emergency.

I been in the ER far more times than I like too and the most I seen go for some very serious ailments. But to say you know what they're in for just by looking at them, or overhearing a few people talk, it's quite a judgement considering you didn't look at their medical history. Something as simple like a "headache" can be a symptom of something far more depending on a person's medical history. Okay there are a few junkies who goes in for pill fixes but think about it this way. Does anyone really want to go to the ER if they didn't feel like they had to? That most cases are considered abuse are for very legitimate concerns. They felt like they had to go there. It could've been nothing. It could've been something. That's why you go to the ER.

[daihashi]

I been in the ER far more times than I like too and the most I seen go for some very serious ailments. But to say you know what they're in for just by looking at them, or overhearing a few people talk, it's quite a judgement considering you didn't look at their medical history. Something as simple like a "headache" can be a symptom of something far more depending on a person's medical history. Okay there are a few junkies who goes in for pill fixes but think about it this way. Does anyone really want to go to the ER if they didn't feel like they had to? That most cases are considered abuse are for very legitimate concerns. They felt like they had to go there. It could've been nothing. It could've been something. That's why you go to the ER.

Many of the things people go to ER are not true emergencies. Sorry it's just FACT. And yes I do know people who work in the ER; paramedics who bring people into the ER. I have a multitude of people in the health care industry and have been confused by people, on THIS site who are in the med industry themselves, as being a doctor because my insight is overwhelming.

I cannot prove it so you'll have to take me at my word, but the system is abused and highly abused at that.

Tell me, what is a legitimate concern that justifies abusing the ER?

[thcbongman]

Many of the things people go to ER are not true emergencies. Sorry it's just FACT. And yes I do know people who work in the ER; paramedics who bring people into the ER. I have a multitude of people in the health care industry and have been confused by people, on THIS site who are in the med industry themselves, as being a doctor because my insight is overwhelming.

I cannot prove it so you'll have to take me at my word, but the system is abused and highly abused at that.

Tell me, what is a legitimate concern that justifies abusing the ER?

That should be the key word here. What is a true emergency? Let's get into the grey area. Infact one thing you perceive as minor, a UTI, a problem where I had to go to the emergency room for. At the time I was battling cancer and while I was recovering through chemo, I felt major pain, which ended up being a UTI. At the time I didn't know it was something relatively minor. But being in a situation like mine, you don't know if that pain could be something else. Would that be abuse of the system? Or merely a legitimate concern? Or another situation. I had low-blood pressure, fainted twice for no reason and had blurred vision and acute headaches for a week. I saw my oncologist and he gave me an order for an MRI and told me to walk into ER. Ended up being nothing. Would you consider that abuse of the system?

With that, it's hard to quantify abuse because you don't know the individual's medical history. So the instances would be quantified as abuse based on fact alone. The underlying circumstance of my situation justifies it and I'm certain in many of those cases, their are circumstances that justify their visit.

[daihashi]

That should be the key word here. What is a true emergency? Let's get into the grey area. Infact one thing you perceive as minor, a UTI, a problem where I had to go to the emergency room for. At the time I was battling cancer and while I was recovering through chemo, I felt major pain, which ended up being a UTI. At the time I didn't know it was something relatively minor. But being in a situation like mine, you don't know if that pain could be something else. Would that be abuse of the system? Or merely a legitimate concern? Or another situation. I had low-blood pressure, fainted twice for no reason and had blurred vision and acute headaches for a week. I saw my oncologist and he gave me an order for an MRI and told me to walk into ER. Ended up being nothing. Would you consider that abuse of the system?

With that, it's hard to quantify abuse because you don't know the individual's medical history. So the instances would be quantified as abuse based on fact alone. The underlying circumstance of my situation justifies it and I'm certain in many of those cases, their are circumstances that justify their visit.

1. You were a cancer patient and fall in lines with other people with debilitating diseases. The people I am referring to that abuse the ER that I have had some insight on (without having their personal records or names disclosed to me) do not have this problem. Your situation is entirely different and is not what i'm talking about.

2. Being told by your doctor to walk down to the ER and get an MRI is completely different from just walking into the ER because you're passing a kidney stone; you know you're passing it but want some pain pills to tide you over with no other ailments being wrong with you.

you made the assumption that I was assuming.. rofl if that makes any sense. Again; I get my info from paramedics, nurses and doctors. Names are not disclosed but I hear time and time again about abuse in the ER. The amount of money it costs when 1 out of 10 people abuse the system is still an enormous amount.

I by no means insinuated that 8 out of 10 are abusing the system; but I would say going by the information I get from others in the field.. that it's about 1 in 10 or fractionally higher.

[thcbongman]

1 in 10 sounds just about right considering illegal immigrants popping more babies.

I understand what you mean by abuse now. The kidney stone example reminded me of a time when my cousin's friend, who had lupus, put himself into the ER before he offered to get me some medicinal. He said he had a kidney stone. I just wonder if it had anything to do with actually getting more medicinal because he said before there was some limit he could get at a time.

[texas grass]

it can have some advantages to having a clinic in stores, but 1 thing not argued is the fact of having sick and contagious disease ridden people spreading it to healthy people, children and pregnant women. that is not a good thing,

sick people need to go see a family dr or in a dire case go to the hospital


its not fair and its rediculous someone would risk the health of people shoping for anything. :mad::mad::mad:

[daihashi]

it can have some advantages to having a clinic in stores, but 1 thing not argued is the fact of having sick and contagious disease ridden people spreading it to healthy people, children and pregnant women. that is not a good thing,

sick people need to go see a family dr or in a dire case go to the hospital


its not fair and its rediculous someone would risk the health of people shoping for anything. :mad::mad::mad:

It happens on a daily basis.. a hand shake, touch a door knob, swim at the community pool.

It definitely happens at the grocery store too; there's an entire department dedicated for cold/flu/ailments. This is something that wouldn't be newly introduced just because of a clinic being established inside of a store.

[painretreat]

Wal-mart relies on mass production from China. If they can figure out how to mass produce proper medicine, I say; go for it! Whether they get any business outside of slip and falls inside Wal-mart is yet to be seen. I seldom shop there, but I do on occassion. And I've read a lot of threads where people got their growing supplies there. Frankly, their prices have gone up too much. A roll of kitchen trash bags cost $1.50 more than 1 year ago and have 30 legs bags in them. If they can apply that to medicine, in the U.S.A., good luck to them.

I worked in ER's for more years than I care to admit. The bottom line, if you feel you have an emergency, go to the ER. If you simply feel sick, go to the Dr. You know yourself better than anyone else and know when you are going for the right reason. We cannot control others, but we must control ourselves and be responsible to society.. Frankly, this group in this forum, I would bet, knows the difference. Or most seem to know how to use a computer well enough to know when to go to the ER or try to treat it at home.

I think Wal-Mart-I think Germs! Would you go to any ER that has that kind of traffic going thru it that it needs a greater? Well, they do have a triage nurse to keep you from dying in the waiting room (that could be considered a greeter, I supose). You can argue anything on either side. Bottom line, most of us would toke and see if it passed before we went to the Dr. Unless we have a disease that needs treated.

I guess I'll end with, eat well with edibles and toke well. If you are busy doing that, you won't get yourself into too many emergencies. Oh, and don't forget your yearly physical. All nice thots to those of you that shared your ER ordeals and medical problems, and good luck to you in the future.

I've seen our medical system shift from treating everyone to the ones that can afford it and the bottom line is: Charity needs to start somewhere. I doubt Wal-mart is the answer. Pr :rastasmoke:

For those of you that gave me a laugh, thanks a lot, I needed it. Hope I remembered to rep you all!