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Comment by Clampower | Hacker News Reader

This is not true in the Netherlands. You don’t get any tests if there is nothing wrong.

Healthcare in this country scares me.

You can ask for a blood test though and ask that they check specific markers. But I agree that huisartsen are too dismissive in general.

Same in Germany (Hausärzte). Even if you have a specific complaint, you'll just be told to go home and drink a lot of water. They just don't have the capacity to test for causes.

I'm not sure if I can even pay someone to make extensive tests here. Never tried. Perhaps one needs to go to the US for that.

FWIW there's self-service blood tests with capillary blood at e.g. medivere.

Tried to do the cholesterol one, but couldn't get the blood into the tube shrug

Take control. Regular doctors in NL are basically there to prevent you from getting care.

Say you want a blood test, and what for. I they don't cooperate, move to the next doctor.

Really? Not even a blood pressure check or a physician listening to your lungs or just examine your skin for weird moles?

That’s terrible.

I am leaving my current physician because I had a very strange, black patch on my back, surrounded by a 'bleached', growing circle.

Due to COVID, I provided videos to her assistant, which the physician reviewed. Physician claimed she needed better pictures ( obviously I had sent the best material ).

The response to that was : the doctor needs to see the patch herself.

Then when I arrived at the appointment she basically treated me like shit. I have filed a complaint with her practice.

This is NL.

my experience is totally differe t. just sayin

No mammograms? No pap smears? No prostrate screening? That's shocking.

We do all of those, but they're all voluntary (as they should be), there are regular drives for all of these.

Did I reply to the wrong comment? I thought I was replying to one about how the Netherlands doesn't cover cancer screening under its national healthcare.

Which it does. That comment you replied to is complete bullshit.

For instance:

Breast cancer:

https://www.bevolkingsonderzoeknederland.nl/borstkanker/

Cervical cancer:

https://www.bevolkingsonderzoeknederland.nl/baarmoederhalska...

Colon cancer:

https://www.bevolkingsonderzoeknederland.nl/darmkanker/

In the US, the medical system was (and might still be) the top third cause of death, of which 5/6ths were due to medicine side-effects.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-doctors-responded-to-be...

I suspect doctors in the Netherlands are taught not to over-diagnose. Are they paid through national insurance?

Yes, the US medical system is a disaster.

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