They are very cool, but they cost about $600 each at the moment. Hopefully with some economies of scale the price can come down.

I notice in Chicago that women seem to be the WORST about wearing helmets - gotta keep that hair looking good.

Fortunately my girlfriend is an ER doctor and knows the value of a brain bucket first hand. We always ride with helmets.

Last month, my dog woke up abruptly, and confused my lower lip for a chew toy. I needed 12 stitches.

The ER doctors asked if I had any allergies, then Rx'd me an antibiotic I was allergic to. Thankfully, I asked my pharmacist some questions that might have saved my life. The dose they gave me at the ER caused me to itch violently (especially around my lymph nodes).

And I get to pay over a grand for the so-called "best medical care in the world." What a fucking joke.

This doctor is an asshole. Isn't this what the Republicans were threatening would happen? Except they thought that Obama supporters would be withholding care from registered Republicans...

Fucking stupid. You'd have to be to vote Republican or believe the lies that Fox spews.

Prices are set by consumers in the absence of government interference. Thus, my opinion on whats "reasonable" is critically important. When you go to Walmart, do you purchase things that are "unreasonably" priced or "reasonably" priced? You don't think the sum opinion of everyone who shops at Walmart is important?

The reason doctors prices are through the roof are because of crooked insurance companies which lobby for government interference. Becoming a doctor is no harder than obtaining many other college degrees, in fact I would rate it as easier, so ask yourself how doctors can be charging $4,000 an hour when most college graduates earn $30-40?

>> ^gwiz665:
Who gives a shit what you think is a reasonable pay? The pay is what it is. I also think you're not looking at experience - there's more to being a doctor than education.
>> ^imstellar28:
A reasonable pay for a ER doctor, in my opinion, is say $60 an hour ($120,000 a year). The drugs to treat asthma shouldn't cost more than $10. So doing some math, I'm going to guess you son was being treated in the ER for 66 straight hours?

Who gives a shit what you think is a reasonable pay? The pay is what it is. I also think you're not looking at experience - there's more to being a doctor than education.

>> ^imstellar28:
A reasonable pay for a ER doctor, in my opinion, is say $60 an hour ($120,000 a year). The drugs to treat asthma shouldn't cost more than $10. So doing some math, I'm going to guess you son was being treated in the ER for 66 straight hours?

Why do you think your preventative home medication is $875 a month, when it costs maybe 5 cents to make?

How long were the doctors working on your son, and what drugs did they administer? You think that was worth $4,000? A reasonable pay for a ER doctor, in my opinion, is say $60 an hour ($120,000 a year). The drugs to treat asthma shouldn't cost more than $10. So doing some math, I'm going to guess you son was being treated in the ER for 66 straight hours?

Wait it was only like 1 hour?

You are in this position because of government regulation. It is a historical fact that the average time to market medicinal drugs increased 10 fold, and the average cost for drugs increased 100 fold after the FDA came into being. You paying $875 for medicine which should cost $8.75 is a result of the asinine policy you are supporting.

Healthcare and medicine are both highly regulated by the government. Engineering is practically devoid of regulation. You think doctors are smarter than engineers, or that working on the human body is harder than creating electrical structures 1/1000th the size of the human hair?

Why can I go to Walmart and buy a computer which can perform 3,000,000,000 operations a second for less than $300, yet you have to pay $875 a month for some common chemicals?

Asking for other people to pay for health insurance to cover your $875 chemicals is as ridiculous as asking for other people to pay $30,000 to put a Walmart computer in your home.

If being educated enough to understand the problems in this world makes me a troll, then paint me green.

>> ^peggedbea:
the ER bill is $4000, i thought i said that.
his preventative home administered asthma medication is $350/per month after my insurance pays 40%. he recieves a dose everyday as a preventative measure. when hes in a flair up its 4-6 doses a day. the nebulizer cost $500. we bought it 3 years ago. you obviously know nothing about children healthcare and asthma.

I can only imagine how awkward it would be explaining to the ER doctor what happened as he's digging Lego men out of your face.

I wish I had that much fun with Legos when I was a kid.

Not a crazy idea, but difficult to execute, I think. I forwarded this to an ex of mine who is an ER doctor in a major American City, and this Doc had the following as a response...

(A)s long as they operate just like Wal-Mart does... you pay for what you get. Right now, shopping at wal-mart... you can't go, show them a card when at the door (insurance or aid info to ER registration), be assigned a personal attendant for all your shopping needs (ER staff - RN, tech, doctor), browse the store for your wares (test, meds, etc), choose what you need despite any professional opinion (a valuable skill spent years honing by ER staff), demand a meal or a sandwich, leave the store without paying, then have whoever is listed on your card (provided that you supplied genuine and accurate information) foot the bill. Wal-mart has much stricter rules... you go, find, by yourself, what you want or something close to it based on what they choose to sell, buy it (and your own food if you are hungry) and leave. If the store doesn't have what you want, you leave. If the staff or something about the store is not to your liking, you leave. If you show up drunk to the store and cause a disturbance, you get in trouble... not coaxed back into aisle 8 for fear that a lawyer is going to sue the store if you happen to leave and hurt yourself because you are drunk. If you decide to berate the staff while you are there because they don't have what you want, you get in trouble. If you don't pay, you get in trouble. If you cause a disturbance while you are there, you get in trouble.

Shows the power of the merchant in the US.

So yeah, part of me is all for the Wal-Mart plan... just make sure that the experience is true to form."