HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2006-09-14, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006. PAGE 5.
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Let's clear the air about smoking
Could we pause for just a mo' to squeeze
out at least one crocodile tear for our
beleaguered cigarette makers? The
cancer causing cartel is not nearly the robust
and raffish rogue it once was.
Not because of consumer disloyalty you
understand. Smokers remain a fiercely
dedicated clique just as happy to shell out their
seven and eight dollars for a deck of fags as
they were when the same pack cost only 50
cents.
No, the smokers are still committed to
holding up their end of the relationship.
It's just that they keep...dying off.
You know — heart disease, cancers of the
lung, lip and throat...that sort of thing.
Then too, the climate has turned undeniably
frosty. Towns, cities, even entire provinces are
declaring smoking bans in restaurants, pubs
and other public buildings.
Manufacturers are required by law to carry
stern warnings on all cigarette packages along
with ghoulish, full-colour photos that show
exactly what sucking on gaspers can do to a
human lung or tongue. •
These are dire times for tobacco companies.
Canadian cigarette sales per capita are now
half what they were in 1980.
Faced with such hostility and stuck with a
captive, but dwindling market, what's a poor
outgunned tobacco consortium to do?
Not to worry. We're dealing with a very
creative institution here. Don't forget that
these are the folks who, back in the 50s,
dressed a second-banana California actor
named Ronald Reagan in a doctor's smock,
slung a stethoscope around his neck and put
his smiling mug on full page ads in Life and
Time magazine. 'Doctor' Reagan assured
readers that "nine out of 10 doctors
Next time you go to a doctor, you might
prescribe him a Valium. Bad-tempered
doctors are becoming an issue in
Ontario. They are rude and offensive to
patients and other doctors and healthcare
workers, sometimes to the point where they
jeopardize effective treatment.
They are only a small minority in a large
profession, but there are enough of them that
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which
governs doctors, is having to come up with a
cure for them.
The college, in an extreme case, has fined
Dr. Charles Nicholas Rathe $5,000 and
suspended him from practising medicine for a
period that will depend on his completion of
an anger management program.
Among his offences, he swore at one elderly
patient, physically pushed another out of his
office and called a third an "imbecile."
He told other patients "If you don't like how
I practise, get out. In fact, I never want to see
you again" and "this is my domain. You don't
ask questions in my domain. I ask the
questions!'
The college says it is concerned about
doctors who are disliked and feared for their
"snide innuendo and sarcasm and explosive
temper tantrums."
It took an informal survey of senior officials
of hospitals and 87 per cent reported they have
had to deal with such "disruptive behaviour"
by doctors at least once and 25 per cent had to
deal with it at least five times in their careers.
One said it takes up a large part of his
workday.
The college, which says safe delivery of
patient care is its chief priority, warns that bad
behaviour by doctors can upget patients and
undermine their confidence in their treatment.
It also can upset staff enough they refuse to
continue working with the offending doctor,
recommend Chesterfield cigarettes to soothe
and relax the throat."
Oh, you put their backs to the wall and
you' II find the tobacco folks are inventive
enough. They're good at thinking outside the
box, flip-top or otherwise.
Even now, facing smoking backlashes
everywhere, they are poised to re-invent
themselves, if necessary. They're already
asking theinselves big questions, such as: are
we cigarette makers...or simply nicotine
pushers?
And that explains why Canadians (pending
approval from Health Canada) may soon be
able to hop down to the corner store and buy
themselves a six pack of MC Lite.
NIC Lite is the brainwave of a California
company. Basically, it's bottled water laced
with nicotine. Hard-core smokers who find
themselves trapped in airports, doctor's
offices, non-smoking hotel rooms or in the
midst of a clutch of hostile non-smokers can
just haul out a bottle of NIC Lite and take a
belt.
They'll have their nicotine fix and nobody
else will be inconvenienced.
Is it safe? Heck, yes.
"Nicotine increases the blood flow, opens
the capillaries and generally makes people feel
better."
That's Jess Baker talking. He makes NIC
delay needed care because patients have to be
referred elsewhere for treatment, and even
distract a doctor or staff enough an error is
made in the delivery of care.
It pointed out there are clear processes to
deal with doctors who commit fraud, sexually
abuse a patient, have clinical skills that are
deficient, need help communicating with
patients or abuse drugs, but not with doctors'
disruptive behaviour.
As a result this type of behaviour by doctors
can continue for years and create chaos for co-
workers and patients.
The College of Nurses, which will help find
solutions, says disruptive behaviour by doctors
has existed for a long time and only recently
been talked about and addressed. Often it was
ignored in the hope it would go away.
The doctors' college is concerned that
disruptive behaviour may have been learned in
medical school or residency training and will
try to prevent this. It will find ways to identify
and monitor doctors who are disruptive and
deal with them.
It says because of the risk to patient safety,
disruptive behaviour is an issue it must address
and it wants to show it is willing and able to
tackle the problem head-on.
A doctor commenting in the college's
magazine said "A hospital should be a well-
oiled machine for the treatment of the sick, not
a haven for physicians with obnoxious or anti-
Lite sound like the next best thing to mother's
milk.
Mind you, he is vice-president'of sales for
NIC Lite.
Not that bottled tobacco is the only
innovative nicotine initiative on the horizon --
look at the newest brainwave from the R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company: Camel Snus.
You read right — Snus. It's tobacco, but you
don't smoke it — you stick it in your mouth
behind your lip.
The active — and addictive — ingredient in
Snus is nicotine, just as it is in cigarettes and
NIC Lite. Snus delivers its payload by seeping
into the blood vessels of the gum.
This form of tobacco consumption differs
from that-famous baseball players' diversion:
chewing tobacco. With Snus you don't chew
or spit. You just stick it behind your upper lip
and look like Bugs Bunny while it does its
stuff.
I don't know how to break this to the R.J.
Reynolds folks but there's nothing new about
Snus — aside from the spelling. Loggers in my
neck of the woods have been indulging in what
they call `snoose' or just 'dip' since Paul
Bunyan was in diapers.
Forgive me if I sound sarcastic about Snus
and NIC Lite —it's not intentional. Hey, as a
non-smoker, I'm all in favour of any form of
smokeless tobacco. I've always thought that
smokers should be able to .light up wherever
and whenever they want.
Just as long as I don't have to smell it.
Does that mean I'm discriminating against
smokers? Hell, no. When it comes to clean air
I'm more than willing to meet smokers half
way.
If they promise not to smoke around me, I
promise not to fart around them.
social temperaments."
Doctors as a body sometimes have been
slow to admit flaws. They are_placed on a
pedestal by the public, which consistently
rates them in polls as the most-trusted
professionals, which is natural because people
go to them for relief from pain and discomfort
and mostly doctors provide it.
It took doctors a long time for instance to
accept they had a big problem in the number of
male doctors sexually abusing women
patients, who often are particularly vulnerable
when they seek medical treatment.
The college does not suggest why some
doctors are bad-tempered or whether their
numbers are increasing. They have
complained often of overwork because of a
shortage in their profession.
But one other reason doctors fly off , the
handle is they are extremely powerful on their
own turf and they could get away with it.
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You have to love it
you notice the difference right away.
Smiling strangers 'meander the
sidewalks, bringing a sense of
busyness to downtown.
Over at the campgrounds the party was on
with hundreds of trailers and thousands of
people creating their own little settlement and
community. Down-home country music
accompanied your footsteps through the park,
and there were sights to behold at every turn.
The Thresher Reunion was back in Blyth for
the 45th time and whether strolling through the
grounds or checking things out from the
sidelines, you can't help but notice this is a
pretty big affair.
Dozens of volunteers have done the
impossible, not just maintaining this event's
popularity, but in constantly finding ways to
improve upon it and expand the level of
interest. In this day and age, with everyone
running willy nilly, bringing people back to an
event year after year, while keeping together
the dedicated group who donate countless time
to the effort, is no small feat.
But, as I was driving into work one day last
week, something else struck me when I saw all
the happy campers at the grounds. You really
have to love a place that creates such diversity.
Let's go back to late spring and the arrival of
the Barn Dance Jamboree Campout. This
event is like the Reunion without the
machinery. The socializing, the common
interest, and the good. old toe-tapping tunes
are what make it a hit.
A few weeks later, the Bluewater Kennel
Club brought the dog-days of summer to Blyth
with its annual show and obedience trials. This
is serious business for serious dog breeders
and trainers who come to participate from
Canada and the United States. The spirit here
is more of competition than a party.
There was barely time to sweep up the dog
hair, then it was time for Campvention 2006.
Close to a thousand trailers carrying 'Family
Campers and RVers travelled here from 30
States and three Canadian provinces. They
turned the campgrounds into a happening spot
for more than a week.
Members of the organization were involved
in numerous programs, and entertainment was
a big part of every evening. They shared their
sense of fun with the community bringing their
noise night to the residents, with the hopeful
expectation that the joke would be returned.
The focus is on family with this group and
they credited Blyth for its hospitality and
warmth.
As the summer drew to a close, the soccer
field amphitheatre on the north side of the
grounds welcomed musicians from as far away
as Montreal to compete in the Global Battle of
the Bands national contest. It may have been a
more exotic bunch than is typical but they too
had a common interest and were drawn to the
area because it had something unique to offer.
And now it was the Thresher Reunion.
The campgrounds at Blyth have added an
element to town that most small places
certainly can't equal. It was in thinking of that
eclectic mbi here this summer that I just had to
smile. What other place can bring you old
country tunes, dogs, family fun, electrifying
rock and a living museum all in the span of a a
few short months?
You really do have to love a place like that.
Bad-tempered doctors an issue