USA TODAY
Liz Szabo
Michael Stravato
Jerry Mosemak
Robert Hanashiro
Before you write a Hack Piece
Check Your Facts Please
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The 3rd, and thankfully final segment of USA TODAY’s “hit-piece” of irresponsible yellow journalism about Dr. Stanislaw R. Burzynski [1], contains the following:
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“Patients stay in hotels while visiting him”
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Pete Cohen made this movie about his and
Hannah Bradley’s trip to the Burzynski Clinic
It does NOT look like they stayed in a hotel [2]
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The article continues:
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“If children deteriorate, they often end up in the closest emergency room, said physician Jeanine Graf, director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, who says she has treated at least a dozen of Burzynski’s patients“
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In the 2nd segment of USA TODAY’s yellow journalism “hit-piece,” the reader was advised that Burzynski had treated [3]:
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“ . . . more than 8,000 patients since 1977.”
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Physician Jeanine Graf, “says she has treated at least a dozen“ of Burzynski’s “more than 8,000 patients,”
This means that Dr. Graf has treated LESS THAN 0.15% of Burzynski’s patients
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The article indicates that:
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“Typically, Graf sees Burzynski’s patients after they have become unresponsive, unable to open their eyes or breathe on their own”
“Graf says she’s never seen Burzynski attending to them”
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Why would she ?
Does she ride in the ambulance to and from the clinic ?
As the article makes clear:
“While Burzynski often meets patients on their first trip to the clinic, Jaffe said he is”
“not the treating physician of the clinic’s patients”
“The doctors on Burzynski’s staff have admitting privileges at local hospitals and “attend to patients as needed,” Jaffe said”
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And she continues:
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“And describing her personal experience with Burzynski’s patients, Graf says,”
“I’ve never seen one survive long-term.”
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Are we supposed to believe that pediatric physician Jeanine Graf keeps track of the “more than 8,000 patients” that the article claims Burzynski has treated ?
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Continuing on, the article also claims:
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“The unlucky ones end up broke, spending everything on medicine, airfare, hotel rooms and meals while in Houston, Graf says“
“Burzynski’s attorney, Richard Jaffe, notes that all cancer care is expensive”
“I think the clinic’s policies are a lot more charitable than the big institutions,” Jaffe says”
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6/25/2013 – Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies [4]
“Bankruptcies resulting from unpaid medical bills will affect nearly 2 million people this year—making health care the No. 1 cause of such filings . . . according to new data”
“. . . estimates that households containing 1.7 million people will file for bankruptcy protection this year”
“Even outside of bankruptcy, about 56 million adults—more than 20 percent of the population between the ages of 19 and 64—will still struggle with health-care-related bills this year . . .”
“Despite the anticipated 2013 dip, such bankruptcies represent about three out of every five filings”
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2007 – How Many Americans Go Bankrupt Due to Medical Purposes Each Year? [5]
“2007, a Harvard study shows that at least 60% of bankruptcies are related to medical bills“
“Even people with health insurance are filing bankruptcy”
“Insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pay, and out of pocket expenses cause medical bills to drown individuals and families in medical debt”
“Harvard also discovered that 75% of those filing bankruptcy for medical reasons had health insurance“
“It is clear that having health insurance is no guarantee against carrying debt related to health care”
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Burzynski has treated more than 8,000 patients since 1977
8,000 divided by 36 years equals an average of:
222 patients per year
Burzynski is obviously NOT the problem
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Liz Szabo, Michael Stravato, Jerry Mosemak, and Robert Hanashiro
Don’t quit your day jobs
USA TODAY needs to generate readership somehow !!!
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Sarcasm . . . deal with it
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REFERENCES:
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[1] – 11/15/2013
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/15/jeanine-graf-cancer-children/2994675/
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[2] – Hannah’s Anectdote:
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[3] – 11/16/2013 – Critiquing: Doctor accused of selling false hope to families (USA TODAY NEWS, NATION, Liz Szabo, USA TODAY):
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https://stanislawrajmundburzynski.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/httpwww-usatoday-comstorynewsnation20131115stanislaw-burzynski-cancer-controversy2994561/
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[4] – 06/25/13 2:29 PM ET—By CNBC’s Dan Mangan @danpostman
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148
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[5] – 2007 – Written by James Hirby | Fact checked by The Law Dictionary staff
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http://thelawdictionary.org/article/how-many-americans-go-bankrupt-due-to-medical-purposes-each-year/
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