Opinion

Rodeo injuries seem a waste of already strained medical resources

LETTER — Posted Sept. 24, 2007

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Regarding "International registry aims to round up rodeo injuries" (Article, Aug. 20): I would encourage the registry's organizers to also track the total cost of treating such injuries, and the insurance status of the injured individuals.

I doubt most rodeo participants are willing, or even expected, to pay out-of-pocket for injuries they sustain while pursuing this voluntary activity. In fact, I wonder if, given the high rate of injury, most participants would even qualify for a privately underwritten insurance policy.

It seems unfair that my uninsured and Medicaid-insured teen patients who engage in voluntary "extreme sports" can go to the head of the line to see an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon, while my other patients wait for access to these specialists. Preventable injuries (especially preventable injuries that are courted) seem like a foolish waste of increasingly limited health care resources.

Suzanne Berman, MD, Crossville, Tenn.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/09/24/edlt0924.htm.

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