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cto 2 aT amd TI HHH al I AT HHI HI TI I HII ry 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 24, 1986 Letters Drinking and driving Dear Sir: Due to the surge in publicity for ~ organizations and issues connected with drinking and driving, and in this season of graduation parties, TOC ALPHA, a youth organization with 600 members Ontario, has developed its own position on this issue. We commend groups which have initiated ways of preventing the con- sequences of drinking and driving, i.e.- buses hired for graduations, designated driver programmes and parent/student drinking/driving contracts. These measures are making a difference; most impor- tantly they are saving lives. However, these are safeguard measures only and the underlying issue of teen-age drinking is not be- questioned. For all these good in- tentions it still must be recognized that under-aged drinking is illegal. By removing the consequences a teen-ager must face when drinking, adult leaders may be giving a message that they sanction teen-age Man killed in accident A 26'year old Uxbridge area man died early Saturday morning in a single vehicle accident on Regional Road 57, just north of the intersec- tion with Highway 7A. Durham Police say Randy H. Foote of Lot 36, Concession 4, was southbound driving a 1979 Firebird about 1:10 a.m. when the accident took place. He apparently lost con- trol of the vehicle, went into the ditch on the east side of the road and struck a culvert. The accident took place a few hundred metres north of the scene of an accident the previous evening that claimed the life of 19 year old Eleanor Kelly of Blackstock. A police spokesman said that Foote was an employee with Durham Region. He is survived by his wife Pamela and three young children. drinking, or that any amount of drinking is acceptable as long as you stay off the roads. TOC ALPHA believes that drink- ing/driving contracts and other safety measures are a means of opening up channels of communica- tion between teens and adults with regard to drinking and driving. We feel that the real problem is not just drinking and driving, but in the decision making process involv- ed in drinking behaviour. Yours sincerely Ms. Kelly Lougheed, President, TOC ALPHA Mike DeGagne Youth Co-Ordinator, TOC ALPHA |kuyo says farewell (From page 5) me feel warm during the cold winter. And the Tobin family were the last family, and I had a really funny dad in my life. He said I'm funny, but I think he's funny. We all shared a lot of happiness when the weather started to get warmer. And each '"'mom" I had here. Thank you for the warm meals. They were really nice. I love you all. And to many great host sisters and brothers. I won't forget you all. They are always the greatest families in my heart. I would like to say thank you to the staff of Port Perry High School for helping make my stay more pleasant. Thank you all very much and "Sayonara." Love always, Ikuyo Matsuoka EDITOR'S NOTE: As you probably guessed, Ikuyo spent much of the past year as an exchange student in Port Perry. She left last Thursday to return home to Japan. Chatterbox (From page 4) There was, however, one small problem. With nowhere to turn around, no way to back up the way I'd come (I never would have made it through the first puddle backing up), I was now faced with making a three-point turn on a road no wider than the car itself. It turned out to be an eight-point turn, actually, but after hitting a couple of trees, getting tangled up in underbrush and sweating off about three pounds, I eventually got the car turned the way I wanted it. Now all I had to co was get back through that pond again. This time, I took no chances. Made sure my seat belt was secure, put the car in low gear and got a good, long run at it. When 1 hit the pond, muck splashed so high I couldn't see, but I was afraid to take my hands off the steering wheel, even to turn on the windshield wipers, even for a second. The rest of the trip over the pond was made blindly, the wheels shpping and spinning, the adrenalin coursing through my body as fast as the Pinto was revving. And then, with a jerk, I hit dry dirt again. Back I went, ever so slowly, over the roller coaster road, un- til I finally reached the West Quarter Line again. I pulled into the driveway of the bungalow and turned off the igni- tion, my hands shaking. And as I sat there, pulling myself together, Vivian Lee step- ped out the front door of the old house. Just the person I was look- ing for. I could've kissed her, right then and there, but instead I rambled on and on about my experience. It all sounded pretty stupid, com- ing out of my own lips, especially compared to the experience she went through with her house (which was at the back of their property, unseen from the road), but I couldn't stop babbling. Just like I can't stop babbling now. But wait, there is a point, and it's directed to the Township of Scugog. How about a sign, guys, poin- ting out that the road in question is hazardous to one's health? Even a simple "Unfinished Road" would do nicely. Not that it will do me any good. You wouldn't catch me on that road again for anything. Well, climost anything. Make me an offer and we'll see. Not in agreement with Doctors Dear Sir: It was with profound astonish- ment that I read June 19th in the Toronto Star that the doctors of Port Perry closed down the only emergency room within 10 miles of our community. I respect the doc- tors' right to strike if they feel themselves victims of injustice. I do not think that a rotation of emergency room closings in metropolitan areas where alternate medical facilities are close at hand is unreasonable. This, however, is not the case in Port Perry. Although I am sure that urgent cases are be- ing handled locally (I hope), one does not have to be an expert to know that many symptoms that can be ignored under pressure by laymen and even physicians and do not at a glance seem urgent can be foreshadowing serious illness. The fine line between the inconve- nience that the dbctors wish to im- pose and real danger has been crossed. Perhaps, by chance, noone in our community will suffer due to the emergency room closing. I pray we are lucky. Regardless of the out- come, one has to question the in- tegrity of people who will throw the health of those dependant upon their help to such high winds of chance. The issues behind this move and the general strike are not as clear as the OMA would have us believe. I do not doubt the doctors of Ontario when they claim that the issue is not money. I would venture, however, that a considerable amount of pro- fessional ego is involved. It is the on- ly answer that surfaces when faced with the often blurred and oblique arguments presented by the OMA. It is true that only a small percen- tage of physicians extra-bill. Where the trend is bad, however, it is very bad. 100 percent of the anaesthetists at the Toronto General are opted out. While only 4 percent of those extra-bill for work they do at the hospital, who can honestly say that they do not foresee this percentage rising without government control. Just because the situation is not en- tirely unpalatable right now does not mean it will remain so in the future. Faced in twenty years time with a dominant trend, money may very well be the issue. The doctors are correct in their claims that Bill 94 is an evasive piece of legislation which ignores the basic problems of an underfund- ed system. Their outrage is not out of place. If they are as horrified as they claim by the decay of the health care system, however, where was their outrage six months or a year ago before this legislation con- cerning their right to extra-bill came up? It seems odious to me that the doc- tors believe that what for most of them is only an abstarct, hypothetical right to extra-bill is more important than the citizens of Ontario's right to Bill 94's insurance that their health care system will always be an equitable, universal one. Of course this hypothetical right is always connected in argu- ment by the OMA to the quality of the health care system. If the elimination of extra-billing will bring decay to the system I would like a clear cut and precise explana- tion of how this would happen. So far, all that has been presented is vague generalizations about the cancer of government control. I would like to make it clear that my objections to the closing of the emergency room are not connected THE PORT PERRY STAR IS NOW OPEN SATURDAYS 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. to my views on the doctors' motiva- tions. It should never be assumed that people in occupations 1n- strumental to human safety and health can be bullied. I realize that my rights and freedoms are only as real and valid for me as they are for every other Canadian. I however, do not have the right to endanger the lives of others. The doctors in Port Perry who supported the emergen- cy room closure have exhibited an adolescent loss of perspective. No issue deserves such a risky and rash reaction. I have never agreed with the doc- tors' views on extra-billing, but un- til today I would have defended with passion their right to make their voices heard. That is no longer the case. Yours truly, Ed Canning, Prince Albert. The Thin Edge Of The Scalpel by Dr. Tom Millar So, Bill 94 is passed. The will of the people is done and the Govern- ment of Ontario whips its upstart doctors into the Party Line. Give yourself a pat on the back Mr. Peterson, and you too, Mr. Rae, or perhaps you should both pat each other on the back, (that is if you can separate from your loving embrace long enough to determine which one of you is the real Premier of Ontario and therefore should be patted first-and perhaps kissed along with it). Democracy has won over anarchy, by reason, debate, and mediation. As Mr. Peterson said at a meeting of conciliation with the 0.M.A., quote "I am sick and tired of hearing about you f---ing doctors. You are overpaid and over-rated, and I intend to do something about it." In 1972, 1 left a government health plan in Scotland after 4 years as a general "ractitioner. At the time of my emigration to Canada I personally had 4,300 patients signed on my books, and the practice had in excess of 11,500 patients for 3 doctors to service. I never saw - less than 80 to 100 people per day and at least 50 percent of the sick had to make do with medical advice given by my nurse or prescrip- tions written by her and signed by me. The practice was so busy that, to be honest, I would use my stethescope only 2-3 times a day, and I became good at writing the prescription for the patient almost before he sat down at my desk and opened his mouth. Every even- ing I can remember driving to my office to see a line-up, often as long as a movie line-up, waiting patiently in the rain for the office to open up. The system left no room whatsoever for any doctor-patient relationship. There was never any time for annual physicals or preventive medicine. There was no such thing as a 'repeating' prescription, and waits for care were at least twice what they have been here in Canada, and waiting lists for elective surgery at least 10 times longer than here. (The waiting list to have your hernia repaired was 15 months, and to have your gallbladder removed, about 9 months, except in emergency stiuations). A doctor's reputation was based on his ability to keep a high percentage of his people alive without ever really examining them. In 1972, 1 left this hell-hole of social medicine and emigrated to Port Perry and to Canada - a country of free enterprise and social freedom. As the son of a working class father I had always been taught that social freedom was sacred to democracy, and I worked hard to build a practice here, at last free of government interference. I have spent almost the last 15 years of my life building one of the biggest medical practices in the area. Yes, I am proud of the fact that my busy life still allows enough time to involve myself locally and give the community the talents of my first love, my music. Now at the end of all this time where am I? I have been socially raped, stripped of my independant status and publicly forced into a health service which gives no hope of professional freedom. The situation is even worse than in Britain, at least there I was given 6 weeks paid holidays per year, an indexed pension plan, and the government paid 50 percent of my office expenses. In the last few weeks I have seen only the start of tactics that can only be described as vicious, - the closing of emergency wards. I do not agree with that, nor do I truly believe in extra-billing pa- tients, (but for anyone to believe that this fight is about extra-billing is as ludicrous as the belief that, deep down, Bob Rae is a Tory!) The fight is for the human right of professional freedom. Even in Socialist Britain with all its economic programmes, extra-billing is allowed in the form of private practice in addition to health ser- vice practice. If anyone really thinks that the doctors involved in the strike are enjoying themselves and being vincictive to an "innocent- lamb"' public, they are living in Never-Never Land. We are all suf- fering, patients and doctors alike, over this strike, and yes, Mr. Peter- son or Mr. Rae, or whichever one of you is in charge - YOU DID IT! Have you ever heard of mediation? All these comments are made by a doctor who has not been on strike up till now, who has never extra-billed, and has carried on the care of his patients hoping that our Socialist friends in power would mediate the crisis. We have all lost a great deal in the past few weeks, 'and things will never be the same. I wish to announce that as of July 1st. 1986, I intend as an act of civil disobedience, to extra-bill all my patients the token sum of 25 cents per visit, except in emergency situations. - "No 25 cents - No advice." - This token payment is demanded as part of my medical fee. Each year I will donate this money to the children of the under- privileged in the area, at Christmas time. Those of you who are my patients and who disagree with my move should find themselves alternative medical care, and I on my part, will deal with all legal penalties rather than stop this practice. I am now a true Canadian, and I love my country and its freedoms, and its sense of the entrepreneur. As a Canadian I will fight for what I consider my human rights. Mr. Peterson, may I take this time to paraphrase your own state- ment, Sir, "'I am sick and tired of hearing you f----ing politicians. You are overpaid and over-rated and I will do something about it!" PS. Please excuse the language. It is not mine, as you know, but that of the Premier of Ontario. Re a Te reel SR Grae . rig pan AN ie BO a