You Are a Dummy.

I got my August issue of Glamour magazine in the mail last week. This is not something newsworthy in and of itself, but the cover promised a story of another way that doctors suck, so I obviously flipped right to page 86.

If you read this blog and can comprehend context clues, you probably know by now that I'm overly sensitive to doctor-bashing, especially the variety that ends up in a women's magazine that has Vanessa Hudgens squishing kittens on the cover (poor kittens, BTW). Sometimes it's justified, but the vast majority of the time it's overly-dramatic hogwash.
ANYWAY, the article tells the tale of women who aren't properly diagnosed with various womanly diseases. What blows my mind about the story isn't that I think the information presented about misdiagnosis was false, but rather that it's so twisted and diluted and dumbed-down.

Oprah, Cosmo and WebMD (among others) are usurping the expertise of trained physicians and are changing the way healthcare is delivered by creating an erroneously educated public. A headshot and a byline are seemingly the most effective ways to get medical knowledge across. White coats and lots of schooling can't compete with the Internet or Oprah's producers in the snazzy department. And the scariest part of all - the masses eat this shit up!

Journalists need to be held more accountable when reporting health-related concerns. Fact check. Do a literature search. Call more than one expert. Present multiple opinions, pros, cons. Help to create an informed patient, not one who is biased and full of mistrust. Heathcare in America is in shambles, and an ignorant, self-intitled public is part of the problem.

2010 (so far), in Lyrics

Calm down
Deep breaths
And get yourself dressed instead
Of running around
And pulling all your threads
And breaking yourself up

If it's a broken part, replace it
If it's a broken arm, then brace it
If it's a broken heart, then face it

And hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way

And everything will be fine

Hang on
Help is on the way
Stay strong
I'm doing everything

Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way

And everything, everything will be fine
Everything

Are the details in the fabric
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling

Are the things that make you blow
Hell, no reason, go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault
Of faulty manufacturing

Everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Everything

Hold your own
Know your name
Go your own way

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling (Go your own way)

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic (Go your own way)
Is it Mother Nature's sewing machine

Are the things that make you blow (Hold your own, know your name)
Hell no reason go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault (Go your own way)
Of faulty manufacturing

Everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Hearts will hold