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HE NDP government’s disgraceful servicing of Big Labor plunged to new depths this past week as the B.C. Ferry Corp. joined in a local labor dispute and refused to allow a non-union construc- tion company access to the public ferry sys- tem. For those who have expunged from their minds the catalogue of labor payoffs on the

road to the current Big Government-Big

labor alliance, a quick review:

@ the NDP enacts its Bill 84 labor code, which does away with secret ballot voting in certification drives and virtually legislates the unionization of the province;

@ the NDP enacts its Fair Wage policy, which forces non-union companies to pay wages and benefits on government job sites comparable to rates the government pays its own unionized workers, costing B.C. taxpay-

ers an estimated additional $100 million annually;

the NDP awards the $1 billion Vancouver Island Highway project to unionized compa- nies exclusively and arranges for the funnel- ing of taxpayers’ money to union funds.

And now the B.C. Ferry Corp. refuses to sell tickets to drivers for TNL Construction Ltd., the non-union company that is doing work for MacMillan Bloede! at the forest company’s Port Alberni mill. Reason: union- ized MacBlo workers are locked in a bitter labor dispute with the company over non- union workers at Port Alberni.

A part of the public highways system has been closed to B.C. citizens by a Crown cor- poration to help unionized labor apply pres- sure in a labor dispute.

Outrageous? Absolutely. Consistent with NDP operating procedures? Absolutely.

iedical tests given a hard

THE LATEST addition fo my “debunking” file attacks numerous sacred cows of modera medicine for their cost and effect on patients.

Released fast week jn Ottawa, the 1.000- page report, representing same 1S years’ research by a fed- eral-provincial tisk force, takes a scathing look at preventive health techniques in everyday use by Canadian doctors and hospitals,

Hf you think preventive medi- cine can halt disease, the report is nat recommended bedtime read- ing. names more than 30 “pre- ventive manoeuvres for which there is evidence that horn out- weighs good.”

The authors go on to say they found “a remarkably small number of conditions for which high-quali- ty scientific evidence for effective prevention is available.”

The more-harm-than-good list includes the electric toothbrush, The report says there is no evi- dence that itis superior to a manu- al brush unless you lack the manu- al dexterity to use the fatter,

Similarly with excessive ultra- sound examinations, Task force chairman Richard Goldbloom con- cedes there is “some evidence of some benefit” from a SINGLE ultrasound but notes that the aver- age woman in Canada probably has close to three during a preg- nancy.

In fact, he adds, much of the

wrieabivel (wottng asd servoniag mw

being done is of little value.

“Task force members,” he explains, “have repeatedly had to confront the question of whether early detection of disease leads to a better outcome or merely advances the onset of anxiety for the patient and the family.”

If they’re right, what we have here is a Catch 22 situation for doctors that’s helping to send health- care costs skyrocketing.

On the one hand, today’s high- tech testing and screening machines (with more being devel- oped all the time) must be used to their maximum to justify their cost, which can run into the mil- lions.

On the other hand, no GP eager to keep his malpractice insurance premiums down will nowadays risk a final diagnosis all on his own as long as there are machines

fs

and lab technicians around to back him up.

So off the patient is automati- cally sent on a depressing round of lab and hospital tests, even though doc may already know the answer.

If the tests are negative, it’s a wasted exercise. If positive, the task force report suggests that it will often make no difference any- how to the eventual quality or length of the patient's life — except to raise his anxiety and stress level.

What, then, is the report’s mes- sage to conscientious doctors who like to “make quite sure”?

Put simply, it says: Go easy on high-tech tests, unless they are

~--olvarly-ovountialTrust-yuut-UWwlT

diagnostic skills more. Quit worry- ing about malpractice suits.

That way the health-care sys- tem can save a bundle. And fewer patients may die of fright long before disease can carry them off!

SIGN-OFF: Congrats to Mariannina Cusano, Anthony Mar, Dawn Robertson and Lindsay Allan, winners of Evergreen Kiwanis Club $1,000 student awards for outstanding contributions to school and com- munity ... And many happy returns of today, Nov. 6, to former West Van mayor Derrick Humpireys.

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