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| Great White North | |
| N.L Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in the U.S. | |
| 2010-02-03 | |
| Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States. Deputy premier Kathy Dunderdale confirmed the treatment at a news conference Tuesday, but would not reveal the location of the operation or how it would be paid for. "He has gone to a renowned expert in the procedure that he needs to have done," said Ms. Dunderdale, who will become acting premier while Mr. Williams is away for three to 12 weeks. "In consultation with his own doctors, he's decided to go that route." Mr. Williams' decision to leave Canada for the surgery has raised eyebrows over his apparent shunning of Canada's health-care system. "It was never an option offered to him to have this procedure done in this province," said Ms. Dunderdale, refusing to answer whether the procedure could be done elsewhere in Canada.
"The premier has made a commitment that once he's through this procedure and he's well enough, he's going to talk about the whole process and share as much detail with you as he's comfortable to do at that time," she said. Ms. Dunderdale wouldn't say where in the U.S. Mr. Williams is seeking treatment. A popular Progressive Conservative premier, Mr. Williams has also seen his share of controversy. During the 2008 federal election, Mr. Williams vehemently opposed the Conservative government, launching his "Anything But Conservative" -- which has been credited with keeping the Tories from winning any seats in the province. He's also drawn criticism for his support of the seal hunt. | |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #5 "The premier has made a commitment that once he's through this procedure and he's well enough, he's going to talk about the whole process and share as much detail with you as he's comfortable to do at that time," The evasion, assumptions and hand waving at the time ought to be very entertaining. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-02-03 11:40 |
| #4 Anguper, thanks for the quote. I'm blown away that no cardiothoracic surgeon in Canada will touch a thoracic aortic aneursym. You could go to the top 50 university medical programs here in the US and find a surgeon who would, and another top-50 private programs as well. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-02-03 09:33 |
| #3 No, no, no, No Mo; it was just his choice .... Say! Why does he get a choice? Were politician exempted from CanukCare? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-02-03 06:19 |
| #2 Prima facie evidence that socialized medicine is inferior to private. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2010-02-03 05:58 |
| #1 Dr. Christopher Feindel, a cardiac surgeon at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the University Health Network in Toronto, was quoted as saying this on the rare Canadian cases requiring surgery on the thoracic aorta: "in Ontario, when we run across these cases we tend to send them to one of the heart centres in Texas." US celebs John Ritter & Steve Allen both died of ruptures in their thoracic aortas, ailments in that region are not that rare. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-02-03 02:02 |