Was the Doc in the ambulance? I thought he was in phone contact? But your point remains. Another unfortunate effect of this is that the rest of the world follows the US. The system here in New Zealand, socializes the costs associated with medical mistakes, paying for costs and lost earning for patients. Our system isn't perfect, far from it. But it gets eroded somewhat by the extremely defensive medicine that is practiced in the US that is trickling in here, leading to higher costs and worse practice. Blood test, scan, rescan, more expensive scan. Oh wait, it's just a cough. More tests doesn't equal better care. Each carries its own risks and has a monetary cost.