The Podcast – Mad as Hell Doctors Need Our Help – Podcast with Dr. Paul Hochfeld

We had on a "Mad as Hell Doctor" on our radio show on Saturday, Dr. Paul Hochfeld who is advocating "smartism". He was really really mad but also articulate and charismatic. He’s an emergency room doctor from Corvallis, Oregon (very George Clooney sounding). His perspective as a doctor is vital to this discussion. He explains why we haven’t heard much from doctors, but that is changing. These doctors have been attracting crowds where ever they go and today they will be in Nashville on their way to try and get a meeting with the President. (They will be in Chicago Friday and Saturday). He is very frustrated that they can’t get any TV exposure. Ed Schultz keeps having "scheduling problems".(About 24 minutes in). I told him I would alert the folks at firedoglake to take up the cause of getting the "Mad as Hell Doctors" on the TV and that meeting with President Obama. (at 27 minutes in).

We gave him our full 45 minutes in our second hour. Around 15 minutes in he clearly explains how Medicare for All would work with public administration of healthcare by health professionals. Around 18 minutes into the interviw we took calls. We got a typical Montana tea bagger giving the Doc grief, but Paul used the challenge to explain doctors’ salaries.
Paul was grateful to be able to have such a long forum. He has only been able to have short radio interviews. He said perhaps health care doesn’t lend itself to sexy soundbites. But I found his way of expressing the debate very sexy. I told him that if doctors like him had been on the Sunday shows for the last year, Medicare for All would be a slam dunk. Instead we get mediocre congress critters and fake reporters explaining about how to play the political game and never asking serious questions. Yesterday the whole "tort reform" red herring was put out there again by Obama and no one even asked what it was or mentioned that it is in place in many states and doesn’t bring down costs. Such a waste of our time. Dr. Paul explains medical malpractice towards the end of the interview. We want health care providers in charge of our health care not these jokers. Let’s get Fighting Doctor Paul on the TV. He has his own website with a video called "Health, Money, and Fear" It was his attempt at educating the public of what is needed to have real health care reform. But he adds:

Sadly, I was a little "naive" to think that education was the trick. Surely, it’s necessary, but it’s not sufficient. In the last couple of years I’ve learned that fixing health care is less about health care than the political process that is broken for the same reason. They are both mostly about money."

What struck me most about this interview was the good doctor’s view of the media and politics. Like many Americans, he’s been too busy to pay the kind of attention that we political activists do. But now that he’s paying attention, he’s as mad as the rest of us. He’s starting to figure out about the media. Let’s join the doctors in Washington on September 30th in Lafayette Park. "Get Mad. Stay Mad. Make History." A little civil disobedience might be just the ticket. And if we get our heads clubbed, at least we’ve got a lot of doctors with us.

The Mad as Hell Doctors website