Priced out: Some Long COVID and ME specialists charge high prices for concierge care, The Sick Times

I wonder if this situation is resulting in potential US donors, the very rich, getting captured by these doctors and their thinking? The wealthy want the best, and perhaps think the people charging the most are the best. And as a result, the private funds that could be getting donated to good research are squandered on these clinicians with their good PR skills and their ideas.
 
Hutan said:
I wonder if this situation is resulting in potential US donors, the very rich, getting captured by these doctors and their thinking? The wealthy want the best, and perhaps think the people charging the most are the best. And as a result, the private funds that could be getting donated to good research is squandered on these clinicians with their good PR skills and their ideas.
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For the first few years of their illness, perhaps. I think the charade doesn’t tend to hold up for more than a handful of years at most, once you’ve been through 3 or 4 doctors and their expensive protocols. Even the most desperate rich people with money to burn probably wisen up after a while. Rich people want the best, but they are also used to the “best” giving them immediate results.

I knew of a very rich young person with ME who went to my college, we had a mutual friend and both got sick around the same time. She went through all the US doctors promising miracle protocols, then her parents flew her around the world to see specialist after specialist, and finally after a year or two she and her family realized there was nothing to be done. Eventually donated a lot to Open Medicine Foundation I believe.

[edit: these private physicians charge an arm and a leg but even that tends to be a barely noticeable drop in the bucket for the US 1%]
 
Hutan said:
I wonder if this situation is resulting in potential US donors, the very rich, getting captured by these doctors and their thinking? The wealthy want the best, and perhaps think the people charging the most are the best. And as a result, the private funds that could be getting donated to good research are squandered on these clinicians with their good PR skills and their ideas.
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This is probably right. There is an alternative clinic run by a few GP’s in the most wealthy suburb in Melbourne that uses naturopathic/homeopathic remedies that they sell and also a pseudoscientific blood testing unit. The place is booked solid and based completely on fringe medicine. I know someone who was taken advantage of (diagnosed with Lyme disease but never been bitten by a tick). Not sure how it is legal when you are a real medico. Mayo clinic is selling Supplements now out of their online store. It is a new world the last few years it seems to me.
 
EndME said:
From what I recall the people mentioned here Ruhoy & Kaufmann also do weekly podcasting. Of course not for free, but for a monhtly subscription cost. Talk about health influencers...
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They started their podcast on Patreon for paying subscribers.
Then made the content available for free and they are now in the process of moving everything to their YouTube channel.
New episodes are released directly on YouTube.
 
Jaybee00 said:
This is pretty outrageous. Here is the bio of one of the other doctors at Ruhoy’s clinic. I guess she has moved away from treating the most marginalized patients…..
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Beware of doctors promoting themselves on Instagram and other social media platforms taking and answering questions. Isn't she busy with her practice?
 
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