Again. You people have some nerve. Taking advantage of your ignorant viewers and dumbing them down ever further in the process. Whatever it takes to maximize your bottom line and that of your parent company GE. Who just happens to produce medical testing equipment like MRI and CAT. Right off the bat, you failed to mention your conflict of interest. The 'Today' show is nothing but a giant marketing stunt. In fact, the same can be said for nearly every show produced after the millenium. The commercial messages are now so frequent, its impossible to keep up with them. But most plug the health care industry. Unfortunately, your rotten tactics actually work. As a society, we are over-tested, over-diagnosed, over-medicated, plagued with the side effects, and further in debt because of it. The rising cost of health care (along with your profits) will certainly contribute to the worst US depression of all time. Still, you do everything within your power to dumb down your viewers and maximize that bottom line. Today's segment on health care also failed to mention the incredible greed and corruption within the industry. There has been a MASSIVE campaign to get every American hooked on medical testing and pharmaceuticals. Nearly every public figure takes part. Often with a mention of some over-priced and over-hyped drug, test, or procedure. For example: Hank Azaria (prednizone), Tony Danza (Viagra), Carson Daily (Ambien), Katie Couric (colonoscipy), Dr Phil (anti-depressants), ect. The same can be said for nearly every TV show. For example: Deal or No Deal, Law and Order, Amnesia, The Apprentice, Numbers, The Simpsons, American Dad, ER, House, Grey's Anatomy, The View, Today, Ellen, Oprah, Dancing With the Stars, ET, Insider, Big Brother, Biggest Looser, CSI, and nearly every cable show as well. Its become very predictable. Every other scene will plug the health care industry. Always with the same implications: SEE YOUR DOCTOR. TAKE MORE DRUGS. GET MORE MEDICAL TESTING. HAVE BLIND FAITH IN THE INDUSTRY. THEY HAVE ONLY YOUR GOOD HEALTH IN MIND. For each and every plug, more ignorant fools run out and see their doctor. Now, we are a society of credit card, pharmaceutical, medical testing junkies. More demand on the industry which means higher profits for everyone involved. Your parent company, sponsors, coorporate partners, and nearly every money-hungry doctor in the book. There was a time when they had only the best of intentions. NOT ANYMORE. Now, the vast majority are greedy and insensitive. They take your vitals, ask a few simple questions, prescribe another over-priced and often unnecessary drug or test (for which they often invest as well), and rush you out of their office so they can see another patient and reap another $100 for 5 minutes of their time. We are led to believe that doctors have to charge such obscene rates to cover their educational costs and overhead. ITS A LIE. THE VAST MAJORITY ARE MILLIONAIRES. In general, doctors are the highest paid professionals of all. The majority own multiple homes, multiple high end vehicles, and boats. They travel the world and often attend 'educatial' seminars held at fancy resorts. With travel and accomidations covered by the drug industry under the condition or understanding that the doctors will prescribe their product in return. They are required to attend the 'educational' seminar for one hour. Otherwise, they are free to ski, swim, dine, or dance. All on the pharmaceutical dime. Call it a perk. I call it an INCENTIVE. The greed and corruption within the entire industry is nothing short of an epidemic. Still, you filthy pigs have the nerve to plug the industry at least a dozen times every day. Always with the implication that you have only our good health in mind. ITS A LIE. I'm not bashing the concept of health care. Only what the industry has become. AN EPIDEMIC OF GREED AND FRAUD.

Fellow viewers: Keep your eye out for the following commercial messages in nearly every TV show.

See your doctor more often. Take more drugs. Get more medical testing. Have cosmetic surgery. Become an organ doner. Give a kidney while you're still alive. Travel the world. In particular, Vegas, New York, Alaska, China, Rome, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands. Be sure to charge everything on your Capitol One or Citi Bank credit card. Search the web with Google. Go to I-Tunes and download your favorite music. Buy an I-Pod, I-Phone, and I-Book. Don't settle for a basic cell phone. Remodel your home. If you live in an apartment or trailer, then you are a second class citizen. Buy a house. Upgrade to high end appliances from Lowes or Home Depot. Don't forget the power generator. Go to college and help your relatives do the same. You are morally obligated to do so. Invest in the stock market. Don't worry about the economy. This volatility will all pass. Get a reverse mortgage on your home. Don't leave your major assets to your children. Spend them away instead. Live it up. Be a perfect little consumer junkie. GIVE US YOUR MONEY.

Seriously people. Don't fall for any of it. Don't take the word of any public figure. We are in for some incredibly hard times. Like nothing this country has ever seen before. The worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. Don't support the rich or their high profit low labor industries. Support the low end industries instead. Help the little guy as much as possible and the big guy as little as possible. We are in this mess because of greed. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

I find it highly offensive that the first commentor claimed that Katie Couric is unjustly plugging colonoscopies. Her husband died from colon cancer. He might not have if he'd had regular screenings and they had detected the disease early. I agree that sometimes the health care industry is a little out of it, but writing off doctors altogether is incredibly dangerous. I for one hate going to the doctor and when I finally went about two weeks ago I found out that a fairly moderate condition had gotten much much worse.
PLEASE IGNORE THE FIRST COMMENT!!!!!!! THE PERSON HAD SERIOUS ISSUES!!!!!!
If you think something is wrong, GO SEE A DOCTOR. It is very important. And if you have issues with health care, vote for a candidate who will do something about the sad state the industry is in.

Kat. My exact words were "nearly every money-hungry doctor" and "often unnecessary". Modern health care has become the greatest commercial scam of all time. I wish that we could have blind faith in the industry. We can not. Unfortunately, those most qualified to explain it are also those with a MASSIVE conflict of interest. Damn near every provider is in it for the money. BIG MONEY. Its not their knowledge I question. Its their character. They are motivated by the most corrupt and intoxicating element of our society. GREED. THEY WANT THEIR RICHES. Show me a doctor who gives every patient at least 20 minutes of undivided attention for under $100 and prescribes drugs only as a last resort and I'll show you an exception to the rule. About Katie Kouric. She is not the angel she makes herself out to be. Nor was she a devoted wife. She made shallow and suggestive comments about Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and George Clooney shortly after her husband died. I belive the phrase was "eye candy". The timing alone was disturbing. Commercial plug aside. That woman has the moral character of a stereotypical used car dealer. All the right words and expressions. ZERO sincerity. The same can be said for Ann Curry's sad eyes and Al Roker's obnoxious laugh. These people are paid BIG MONEY to dumb down their viewers. I'm not refering necessarily to the content of every segment but more the format and the psychological BS. Whatever it takes to get our money.

"Most commonly the cause is fear." I'm not an expert, but I'd think the most common cause would be that people can't afford it. With most Americans not even being insured, I'm sure they can't afford regular check-ups. As grad. student, I know that I and many of my friends surely can't afford it.

I agree about the colonoscopy. This is a test that can actually reduce the need for more invasive procedures like surgery (and surgeons' fees). Don't be afraid to have this test, be afraid not to do so. I was lucky after waiting until 60 yrs of age, and had no polyps. My elderly aunt waited until 80 and needed abdominal surgery for something a colonoscopy could have literally snipped in seconds decades ago. She had no cancer and also is lucky. While I do not care for Couric as a broadcaster, her efforts and willingness to share her experience saved lives, I'm sure.

I agree about the colonoscopy. This is a test that can actually reduce the need for more invasive procedures like surgery (and surgeons' fees). Don't be afraid to have this test, be afraid not to do so. I was lucky after waiting until 60 yrs of age, and had no polyps. My elderly aunt waited until 80 and needed abdominal surgery for something a colonoscopy could have literally snipped in seconds decades ago. She had no cancer and also is lucky. While I do not care for Couric as a broadcaster, her efforts and willingness to share her experience saved lives, I'm sure.

It does seem that the onus is now on the patient to sort out medical information and to consider the source of the information. The first comment is certainly adamant regarding the issue, but there's no denying that there is an issue.

The most trusted sources in health care are those who have no ulterior motives of course. One factor to consider when assessing motive is standard of living. Most television personalities who are employed to disperse information are highly paid and ambitious. It behooves them to do whatever it takes to maintain the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. They are in a position to compromise principles and "sell out".

Television personalities are also in a financial position to afford high end merchandise. They interact with others of that financial strata. Their sense of affordability is skewed, demonstrated when they describe what most would consider to be expensive items as "bargains".

As media salaries are rising, the quality of media content is sinking, obviously going for the lowest common denominator, disregarding the fact that the media is named as a factor in virtually every problem that society faces today.

Viewers quickly come to agree with F. Scott Fitzgerald's observation, "The rich are different from you and me."
It's clear that they do whatever it takes to remain rich. What is particularly disturbing about seeing this trait in doctors and television journalists is that they usually profess to hold the common good as sacred. One wonders if the Hippocratic Oath is now laced with hypocrisy and how TV personalities can sleep at night. (Ambien of course.)

I just watched Today's segment on life expectancy and inequality. As usual, you people have the nerve to address another socio-economic problem and water it down for your ignorant viewers with the implication of 'good will' on your part. Always with the same powder puff attitude. "Ooh. This is so disturbing." "How do we address the issue of social inequality?" "How do we level the playing field?" As usual, you dance your way around the only solution. COWARDS! HYPOCRITES! I'LL SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU! STOP EXPANDING THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND POOR! If you promote anything but, then you are part of the problem. If you celebrate anything but, then you are part of the problem. If you exhibit anything but, then you are part of the problem. If you reap obscene levels of wealth from your fellow citizens, then you are part of the problem. IF YOU KEEP GETTING RICHER, THEN YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. Still, you filthy pigs have the nerve to expand the gap even further. IT MAKES YOU RICHER. Everyone of you sit on that couch and reap 7 or 8 figures to promote high-profit low-labor industry for your parent company, stock holders, network sponsors, and coorporate partners. You deliberately expand the gap with each and every segment. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class. You promote one over-paid celebrity pig after another. Singers who reap 100 times the income of teachers, cops, and factory workers. Actors who reap 500 times the income of soldiers who die as we speak. Even your queen, America's favorite humanitarian, is the most disgusting hypocrite slob of all time. I'll put it into perspective for you. A New York firefighter would have to work for about 40,000 years. THATS FOURTY THOUSAND YEARS, pay no taxes, and save every single penney, to match the net wealth of ONE TALK SHOW HOST. Does that sound fair? Think about it. We lost hundreds of real heroes on 9/11. HUNDREDS OF REAL HEROES GAVE THEIR LIVES THAT DAY. and this is how they compare to a single G** D*** talk show host? WHAT THE F***! Her incredible wealth was not 'generated'. It was not 'produced'. It was not grown in her back yard. It was REAPED FROM THE PEOPLE. The same goes for everyone of you millionaire pigs who sit on that couch and every millionaire pig you promote. Still, you have the nerve to run your mouths about 'inequality'. Asking the same stupid questions for the camera with the same powder puff attitude and always pretending as if you don't know the answer. COWARDS! So how do we address the problem of social inequality? Heres an idea.

SHRINK THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND POOR. SHRINK THE GAP. SHRINK THE GAP. SHRINK. THE GAP. WHAT F******, BLACK-HEARTED, BRAIN DEAD, IDIOT CAN'T UNDERSTAND THIS? SHRINK THE G** D*** GAP YOU DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOBS. SHRINK THE G** D*** GAP!!!

i am a woman and avoid doctors. Doctors overprescribe medicines and tests. Their goal is to maximize their own profits, as is the goal of the rest of the healthcare industry. Their education teaches them to be closed minded and not use their logic while making diagnoses.

i choose to not go to doctors with my eyes fully open. this is not becuase i am in denial of my mortality. this is because i will not give my money for no reason to rich doctors unless absolutely necessary. also, i refuse to take medication that has been prescribed to me after half-assed diagnoses. this is a country of paranoid people who can be taken advantage of. so we have flu shots and other such things which are actually not needed if you keep your immunity up by eating right and exercising. western medicine is about doing a patch-up job and how many western doctors spend time to tell you how to eat right and exercise and prevent problems? no. they need to push their drugs at you, which they were given by their pharma companies. also, its because idiots like you will sue them if you aren't given heavy dosages.

Leaving aside the communist rantings (holy shit! I thought I timewarped back to my high school American history class!), I have to say that medical care is a good thing, but ONLY if not overused. I mean, a doctor is damn handy when you have an acute case of pneumonia and you need antibiotics. Toughing out pneumonia is NOT recommended. That's how Jim Henson died.

HOWEVER, when it comes to chronic conditions, doctors have no clue and any treatment they might offer has a tendency to make things worse. Chronic conditions are much more amenable to self-care, alternative care and nutrition. The drugs offered in those situations are pretty dangerous.

Go to a doctor if you're sure there's something acutely wrong (and you know, checkups really aren't a bad thing. Knowing what's going on with your body just gives you information to act. Just because a doctor prescribes or suggests something doesn't mean that you have to take it) and the sooner the better. A condition nipped in the bud is far easier and cheaper to treat. But for your chronic conditions, perhaps you should spend more time figuring out how your body ticks and what things help to ameliorate the condition.

@lilbangladesh: agree with what you say, but have a question about insurance: if your doc says you need to take a med or do something else and you don't agree, you can only see another doc to get a second opinion and hope this one agrees with you, otherwise if afterwards, the condition deteriorates, your insurance doesn't pay up. So you are supposed to make your own decisions, but you should first try alternatives before consulting the doc?
About the " communist rant" I really do agree with the point this person is making about big pharma running the show and tv show hosts capitalizing on other people's problems in totally unethical ways and being hypocrites. Sorry, but I feel if you are not going to seriously contradict what someone says, making a "funny" statement about them that ridicules them and disqualifies them is cheap.

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