A Theranos in the Anus
In an article by Arizona columnist Tim Steller, he describes how Arizona state legislators, including Governor Doug Ducey, were wooed and bamboozled by Elizabeth Holmes into believing what no man(or woman) has ever accomplished in the history of lab medicine–that complete lab results could be obtained with just a few drops of blood. So much so that they failed to ask her and her cohorts the most obvious question: if the equipment used to process the labs, aka the “Edison”, actually worked. It didn’t. And the state of Arizona, along with a few other gullible corporate goons, lost thousands. They were royally screwed–in the arse.
The “Thera̅nos in the anus” is a phrase I coined to describe legislators who, blinded by dollar signs, eagerly pass bills without asking at least one simplistic question that might validate or invalidate the authenticity of a bill which has the potential to harm the public. The question typically should be…”Does it work?” or “Will it work?”.
I credit the patient advocacy group, Physicians for Patient Protection(PPP), with exposing the farce that is FPA/OTP and its consequences. They are frequently accused of being a “fringe” group by disgruntled non-physician practitioners(NPPs) who presumed that a group of physicians had nothing better to do but “go after” NPPs. They just weren’t busy enough. They also refuse to acknowledge that no one was paying attention to NPPs or their lobbying until mismanaged patients, in unprecedented numbers, began appearing in the offices and on the doorsteps of mostly primary care physicians. They assumed they were seen by “doctors”; however, their medical “management” displayed the “skills” of people who were poorly trained or untrained in medicine. PPP physicians followed the trail(as they should have) so these incompetent individuals could be reported to their respective licensing boards. No one expected to find nurses at the end of that trail, which also subsequently opened up a Pandora’s Box that revealed substandard online degree mills requiring minimal training hours, NP programs with 100% acceptance rates, entry-level NP programs that enabled NPs to practice without RN experience, online sham, s**t “doctorates”, unqualified NPs who failed their programs being passed through anyway, etc….In other words, PPP inadvertently uncovered what nursing leadership already knew–how far the once stellar nursing educational system had fallen. To date, leaders in nursing have done little to nothing to mitigate the damage. Instead, they deflect and blame the messenger(PPP) for informing the masses of what is occurring but don’t want others to know for fear of disrupting their goal of achieving FPA throughout the United States. Now the AAPA has jumped on board with that insanity. It’s despicable.
Once legislators passed FPA/OTP, they never once followed up to assess if either was working as NPPs professed. THEY NEVER ASKED THE SIMPLE QUESTION. This is exactly how s**t like this can go on for years while inefficiencies and deficiencies remain undetected. PPP’s unpremeditated discovery should have been caught by legislators invested in doing their job to the end. Instead, beguiled by the batting eyes, distracting puffery and generous financial donations of the AANP, these lawmakers were impotent. They had no idea that the people they enabled to practice medicine without a license in fact could not, and that the sub-standard work of these individuals was only unveiled because patients sought help from the actual experts in medicine. No one had to go look for the damage-–it was handed to PPP on a silver platter. Unfortunately, it is the patients who ultimately have paid the price for legislators “Thera̅nosed in the anus”. The NPPs who engaged in these unconscionable practices made the mistake of underestimating the intelligence of the public. It is actually the patients’ persistence in seeking help that led to the revelation of scope creep. They saved their own a**es…pardon the pun. I’ve said it many times, you cannot “fake it until you make it” in medicine. Your sins will ALWAYS find you out.
Naive legislators throughout various states involved in the scope creep issue don’t understand the distinct differences in education and preparation for physicians, physician assistants(PAs) and nurse practitioners(NPs). So they listen to the slop promoted by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners(AANP) and the American Academy of Physician Assistants(AAPA) that insists NPPs can fill a physician gap and work unsupervised. The fact that FPA exists in 23 states and OTP in a select few is not proof of success; it is indicative of exceptional lobbying. Theranos was founded in 2003 and became defunct in 2018. Holmes made millions during that period. Took a few years for people to figure out Holmes’ s**t didn’t work. Ever.
I believe the same will happen with scope creep. Someone somewhere, perhaps an investigative reporter or concerned representative, will finally ask the right questions and discover that the nonsense referred to as FPA/OTP, like the Edison, has not worked as successfully as believed. And never will. Because it is a scam of the greatest magnitude.
“Facts are threatening to those invested in fraud.”― DaShanne Stokes
Essentially the new online NP are no different than an RN used to be but demanding the right to practice medicine.
NP=RN + $$
two ways
getting an NP makes an RN make over 100k
adding money for a degree, not clinical competence, experience or training equals an NP
further more nursing loves it because it creates a nursing shortage and thus raises pay for all remaining nurses.
Interesting that the biggest difference between the US and other countries healthcare is the cost of nursing and the cost of our legal profession.
Paying MD the same as a nurse would only decrease the cost of healthcare in the US 6%
Wonderful article by Dr. Newman! I have to wonder though – are legislators being bamboozled? Or are they purposefully putting in earplugs, turning a blind eye and passing these laws because they answer to the highest lobby, the AANP? After many of us have testified at these hearings, for example at AB890 in California, they didn’t even want to hear our comments. They essentially rammed this legislation through as fast as possible. I feel like the attitude they have is “shut up, don’t talk, we don’t want to know”.