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Curzon
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Curzon

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January 16th, 2007

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So much for Cuban medical care

Castro in ‘serious condition after failed operations’

The Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in a serious condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, a Spanish newspaper has reported. El País said on Monday that the 80 year old suffered an infection that worsened to peritonitis, citing two medical sources at the Madrid hospital where a surgeon who visited Castro in December works.

The report, posted on the paper’s website reads: “A grave infection in the large intestine, at least three failed operations and various complications have left the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, laid up with a very grave prognosis”.

Earlier on Monday, a Latin American diplomat close to Havana said Castro was having problems with the healing of his stitches after stomach surgery. Cuban officials have released little information on the dictator’s condition since he disappeared from public life in July and ceded power to his brother Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz.

Comments to this entry

Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace
January 16, 2007
1:03 pm
I think the title is a little unfair - any surgery on 80 year olds is risky, and I am sure Castro got the best care available (They even brought in a Spanish expert for a second, or probably tenth opinion). Cuba's medical industry is world class - and perhaps an alternative model for 'Special Forces' in spreading a country's political stances??
Dan tdaxp
January 16, 2007
1:48 pm
More than funny -- it's especially humorous in considering that Cuba's option seems to be second-rate Euro care. It puts the "Cuban medical miracle" in perspective.

As a failed surgery tends to be much, much worse than no surgery, especially for an elderly patient, it would be wonderful if the second or third try was the one that nailed the coffin.
steve laudig
January 16, 2007
6:31 pm
How many times did the U.S. Government try to kill Castro again? He'd have been dead in 1960 if Eisenhower would have had his way. The typical Cuban gets as good or better health care than the typical uninsured American. But then so does the typical Canadian and Briton and French and Swiss and Italian and German and Irish and Norweigan and Swede and Dane, enough said.
John Brown
January 16, 2007
9:06 pm
Oh gimme a break, Curzon. I like reading yall's site but don't be ridiculous or I quit.

46.1 million uninsured Americans and you're making useless references to an argument only relevant to partisan hacks. As admirable as our American self-reliance may be, a number like that is the plank in our own eye.

As one Dr. Relman pointed out in a letter to another partisan hack in the New York Times on January 2nd: "Fee-for-service payments of physicians, investor-owned facilities and a market ideology will have to be replaced by salaried physicians working in prepaid medical groups and by nonprofit ownership. A difficult agenda, but nothing less will do."

And as our recently celebrated MLK Jr apparently pointed out: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
Dan tdaxp
January 16, 2007
9:30 pm
And as our recently celebrated MLK Jr apparently pointed out:


Well, let's be careful before we give credit to what MLK points out. He has a way of leaving out his citations :-p

injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."Â?


I'd think that being a victim of genocide sucks a bit more, but whatever.
a517dogg
January 17, 2007
3:12 am
Let's be fair to Cuban doctors. If you were performing life-saving surgery on Castro, wouldn't you screw it up too?
snow
January 17, 2007
9:01 am
"The typical Cuban gets as good or better health care than the typical uninsured American."

So what you're saying is that, if the typical uninsured American gets crap medical care, at least the Cubans get the same or perhaps better than crap medical care? Wow, that's some statement in support of Cuban medical care.

"But then so does the typical Canadian and Briton and French and Swiss and Italian and German and Irish and Norweigan and Swede and Dane, enough said."

American medicine is as good, if not better, than any in the world and often cutting edge. The problem is that it's expensive as hell and not everybody is insured.
von Kaufman-Turkestansky
January 17, 2007
6:48 pm
The key words being "typical" and "gets". But I won't even try to crow about the Typical Canadian's health care. Long wait times for certain procedures, and so you're left with the rich going to the USA to get treatment with those rich Americans who can afford it.

Public health care was great when everyone was young and healthy in Canada. What sucks for us in Gen X is that the baby-boomers got pretty good social health care, and will bankrupt those of us left over as they continue to get it with their longer lifespans, until the dream of equality finally dissolves as we get older and there is no cash left.

But as far as Cuban health care goes, you have to put in context. In the context of a third world country, the health care stands out brilliantly. Dr. Alfred Russell Wallace also makes a very good point, which I interpret as being one of "soft" vs. "hard" power. It's worth considering when dreaming about what to do with the world.

And I would guess that in the context of civil rights in the US, the quote attributed to MLK might make sense. It would be more Black Panther to bring up the G-Word.
slim
January 18, 2007
1:31 pm
When good medical care is practically the only claim to legitimacy that Castro's thug regime has, it is quite telling that what Cuba has to offer is deemed not good enough for the maximum leader.
John Brown
January 19, 2007
5:47 am
Curzon?