The Joys of Socialized Medicine

A 69-year-old Japanese man injured in a traffic accident died after paramedics spent more than an hour negotiating with 14 hospitals before finding one to admit him, a fire department official said Wednesday.

The man, whose bicycle collided with a motorcycle in the western city of Itami, waited at the scene in an ambulance because the hospitals said they could not accept him, citing a lack of specialists, equipment, beds and staff, according to Mitsuhisa Ikemoto.

That's what happens to unlimited demand when it's met by dwindling supply caused by doctor's going to other countries and research facilities to avoid the excess regulation and capped salaries. That's what will happen here.

More than 14,000 emergency patients were rejected at least three times by Japanese hospitals before getting treatment in 2007, according to the latest government survey. In the worst case, a woman in her 70s with a breathing problem was rejected 49 times in Tokyo.

Socialized medicine only works on the most rudimentary level. On any scale, or with an extenuating circumstances, you're screwed.