Dead Man's Hand

Wild Bill Hickock, while playing poker, was shot and killed by Jack McCall. The hand he was holding became known as the dead man’s hand: aces, eights, and the Jack of Diamonds.

The card players here are not Wild-West gunslingers, but they are playing for keeps. Our healthcare system has pitted the patients against the doctors—and both against the executives of the legal, medical, and insurance industries.

Meeting medical needs has decayed from a team effort aimed at the highest quality care to a poker game of sorts where there are big winners and mostly big losers.

How good is your next hand?

Avoid the combination of aces, eights, and the Jack of Diamonds if you can!

This photograph is dedicated to the memory of Chris Zettler, a gifted photographer and close friend, who died June 30, 2004.

His untimely passing at the age of 41 was due to a “conservative diagnosis” (euphemism for a process that keeps cost under control by treating minimally and waiting to see if a medical condition worsens).

His so-called heartburn was actually a warning from his body that his coronary arteries were blocked. The physician gambled that a healthy looking 41-year-old with a toned body from a vigorous exercise regimen probably had indigestion rather than heart problems. The diagnosis, based on that assumption, was made with no medical tests or procedures. He convinced Chris to bet his life on it.

We, much too late, sadly found out he had been dealt the dead man’s hand.