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> hospitals faking COVID test results just so that they can admit them for 4 days, administer expensive drugs, charge them some hefty bill, and send home Why w

> hospitals faking COVID test results just so that they can admit them for 4 days, administer expensive drugs, charge them some hefty bill, and send home Why would hospitals admit someone who isn't actually in need of care? If you need hospital care for Covid, it's (almost exclusively) because you need supplemental oxygen, and that's something that's pretty hard to fake. Edit: the question is: how are these hospitalizations actually done practically. Are doctors faking diagnoses (e.g. hypoxia), convincing patients they need care, which they are persuaded to accept? Or are patients forcibly admitted without being asked?

junon 5y ago
> Why would hospitals admit someone who isn't actually in need of care? In places without socialized medical coverage and low levels of ethical integrity (unfortunately, too many places in the world - especially impoverished states), the answer is "money".
- alkonaut 5y ago
  Yes perhaps the question was unclearly posed, I mean - how do people allow themselves to be admitted to expensive care without being in need of it? Are doctors "persuading" patients that they need care, and the problem is lack of information about what rights you have to actually refuse, or information about what the symptoms would be etc?
  - junon 5y ago
    Yep that's usually what happens. Not everyone has the same access to basic medical information and rely solely on the doctor's word. That is how many people fall into cult-like or religious "medicine" or end up spending way too much on otherwise farsical treatment.
- refurb 5y ago
  Why would socialized medicine exclude this behavior? Medicare fraud in the US is in the billions.
  - krageon 5y ago
    The US does not have socialised medicine.
    - rm_-rf_slash 5y ago
      I believe parent referred to Medicare as a subset in American health care that is socialized, to some degree.
      - krageon 5y ago
        I guess I am mostly alone in thinking that for a system to be socialised, it has to apply to everyone or almost everyone in a country equally. From the comments and the voting, I understand that having it apply to "almost" half the population is already socialised to this time slot :)
        refurb 5y ago
        So by your definition much of Europe (which has a robust private healthcare system) isn’t socialized?
        krageon 5y ago
        Europe isn't a country and doesn't have uniform policies in this way. It also doesn't have things as an entity (except for a selection of laws that it's members implement differently in most cases). Because of those facts, I have trouble even formulating a response to your question - it doesn't make sense to me.
        refurb 5y ago
        Much of Europe has a mix of public and private healthcare, hence by your argument, none of those countries have socialized medicine.
    - notch656a 5y ago
reacharavindh 5y ago
Blunt answer : Money, greed, short term thinking and lack of ethics. How? Doctors turn into actors and cheat the public. Anecdotally, my relatives say they were never treated for COVID, but told that they needed admission because they have high risks(diabetes, respiratory troubles, high blood pressure) and need to be monitored in order to make sure COVID is treated early. After 4 days of a battery of tests(non COVID related), they are sent home saying they escaped the wrath of COVID because they were lucky. I don’t know what to say.
- alkonaut 5y ago
  This is why I'd never want to visit any doctor whose paycheck is affected by the treatment he gives (or doesn't). A doctor who has even a small kickback on prescriptions from a pharmaceutical company is completely out of the question in my book at least.
Alterlife 5y ago
As an Indian living in India, I've heard some of these stories: a. They are asked to get admitted "for observation because they are at high risk". If they ask to leave, the doctors ask them to sign a very scary sounding wavier disclaiming the hospital of responsibility for their death. b. There apparently this one lab that will return a positive covid test if the docs ask them to and they get a cut of what the patient pays. It needs to be said that I don't know if any of these are true.

junon 5y ago

> Why would hospitals admit someone who isn't actually in need of care? In places without socialized medical coverage and low levels of ethical integrity (unfortunately, too many places in the world - especially impoverished states), the answer is "money".

alkonaut 5y ago
Yes perhaps the question was unclearly posed, I mean - how do people allow themselves to be admitted to expensive care without being in need of it? Are doctors "persuading" patients that they need care, and the problem is lack of information about what rights you have to actually refuse, or information about what the symptoms would be etc?
- junon 5y ago
  Yep that's usually what happens. Not everyone has the same access to basic medical information and rely solely on the doctor's word. That is how many people fall into cult-like or religious "medicine" or end up spending way too much on otherwise farsical treatment.
refurb 5y ago
Why would socialized medicine exclude this behavior? Medicare fraud in the US is in the billions.
- krageon 5y ago
  The US does not have socialised medicine.
  - rm_-rf_slash 5y ago
    I believe parent referred to Medicare as a subset in American health care that is socialized, to some degree.
    - krageon 5y ago
      I guess I am mostly alone in thinking that for a system to be socialised, it has to apply to everyone or almost everyone in a country equally. From the comments and the voting, I understand that having it apply to "almost" half the population is already socialised to this time slot :)
      - refurb 5y ago
        So by your definition much of Europe (which has a robust private healthcare system) isn’t socialized?
        krageon 5y ago
        Europe isn't a country and doesn't have uniform policies in this way. It also doesn't have things as an entity (except for a selection of laws that it's members implement differently in most cases). Because of those facts, I have trouble even formulating a response to your question - it doesn't make sense to me.
        refurb 5y ago
        Much of Europe has a mix of public and private healthcare, hence by your argument, none of those countries have socialized medicine.
  - notch656a 5y ago

reacharavindh 5y ago

Blunt answer : Money, greed, short term thinking and lack of ethics. How? Doctors turn into actors and cheat the public. Anecdotally, my relatives say they were never treated for COVID, but told that they needed admission because they have high risks(diabetes, respiratory troubles, high blood pressure) and need to be monitored in order to make sure COVID is treated early. After 4 days of a battery of tests(non COVID related), they are sent home saying they escaped the wrath of COVID because they were lucky. I don’t know what to say.

alkonaut 5y ago
This is why I'd never want to visit any doctor whose paycheck is affected by the treatment he gives (or doesn't). A doctor who has even a small kickback on prescriptions from a pharmaceutical company is completely out of the question in my book at least.

Alterlife 5y ago

As an Indian living in India, I've heard some of these stories: a. They are asked to get admitted "for observation because they are at high risk". If they ask to leave, the doctors ask them to sign a very scary sounding wavier disclaiming the hospital of responsibility for their death. b. There apparently this one lab that will return a positive covid test if the docs ask them to and they get a cut of what the patient pays. It needs to be said that I don't know if any of these are true.