Essay

Not so 'Sicko'

By Scott Hards

Later this month, "Sicko," the latest film from Oscar-winning (and controversial) documentary-maker Michael Moore, will make its way to Japan. Known for classics like "Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's latest film is a brilliantly constructed indictment of the glaring flaws in the American healthcare system.

Moore is a very left-leaning liberal. Regular readers of this column should know by now that I'm definitely not. I often disagree with key points of his movies, but I must confess that my opinion is usually tempered by the fact that Moore and I grew up in the same town, and went to the same high school (in Davison, Michigan).

I found a very powerful message in "Sicko." It was simply heart-rending to watch one scene where a hospital literally dumps an old patient on a city sidewalk because she cannot pay for her treatment. He makes it all too clear that the U.S. healthcare system has deep flaws.

He points out how, in 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) rated the United States for "health system performance" a mere No. 37 in the world. He also compares the United States to Canada, Britain, France and Cuba (of all places), showing how people get better and cheaper care in those countries. It definitely leaves a big impression on you when you listen to former patients in those countries explain how they didn't have to pay anything for their care.

To me, however, perhaps the movie's biggest flaw was that Moore didn't compare Japan's system. Maybe it's because patients here have to pay a small portion of the costs for care themselves. The comparison wouldn't have made as big an impact on viewers as showing a "free" country, no doubt. Still, that didn't stop the WHO from being impressed by Japan's healthcare system.

In the same "health system performance" chart that ranks the U.S. system as No. 37, Japan comes in at No. 10 (No. 1 is France, followed by Italy). But if you look over the WHO report, you can find another table of data that's more comprehensive which Moore didn't use. That's "overall health system attainment." This chart compares not only each country's healthcare system, but also how healthy a country's people are and how "responsive" it is to citizens' healthcare needs. On this broad benchmark, Japan is ranked a solid No. 1 in the world.

And frankly, this doesn't surprise me at all. I've spent far more time in hospitals in Japan than I'd prefer to, between my daughter's severe congenital problems and my wife's various illnesses. But almost universally, I've been extremely happy with the care we've received, and it's been at very reasonable cost.

Japan's mass media loves to raise a stink when a doctor or hospital makes a mistake that kills or cripples somebody. But that happens everywhere in the world, and always will. Doctors are only human after all. It's always a mistake to judge something from isolated anecdotes rather than a comprehensive, "big picture" viewpoint.

And while it has a few warts, there's a lot to love about Japan's medical system. If Michael Moore comes to Japan to promote his film and happens to get sick, perhaps he'll find some good material for the sequel ..

The statistics mentioned here can be found at:http://www.who.int/entity/whr/2000/en/
whr00_annex_en.pdf

Shukan ST: Aug. 10, 2007

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