BERTROCHE: MICROCHIP THEM, BUT DON'T INVADE OUR PRIVACY WITH THOSE NEWFANGLED COMPUTERS!

You may have seen the story about the Republican congressional candidate in Iowa who wants to microchip illegal immigrants:

"I think we should catch 'em, we should document 'em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going," said Pat Bertroche, an Urbandale physician. "I actually support micro-chipping them. I can micro-chip my dog so I can find it. Why can't I micro-chip an illegal?..."

I'm sure it won't surprise you that when it comes to the rest of us, he's a lot more concerned about privacy -- and well, "concerned" may not be the correct word so much as "paranoid." On the issues page of his campaign Web site, under "Health Care," is a subsection called "Invading Your Privacy," in which he argues that electronic medical records (EMR) are bad because they could be like U.S. missile secrets:

If a physician with EMR has a problem with the computers, he or she will have a terrible time trying to see you. He won't have the record available, and he won't be able to make sure the treatments are correct, and won't be able to write scripts for you. When I was talking to a regional vendor, he told me to keep paper records as well as backing up my system. Well, Hell, if I have to keep paper records anyway, why get EMR?

Also, if the White House, Dept. of Defense, and Los Alamos Labs can't keep their computers and information secure, what makes anyone think the HHS can keep your sensitive and private health records secure? Heck, the North Koreans have been launching cyber attacks against us for 6 weeks now, and we can't stop them. The Chinese stole plans for the F-22 Raptor from Los Alamos Labs last year through a cyber attack. Holy cow! And they want you to trust them to keep your records safe?

So, um, is he arguing that the Pentagon and Los Alamos should get rid of all their computers and work exclusively with pencils and legal pads?

And what happens if the North Koreans get hold of the data from our illegal-immigrant microchips?

To give him his due, Dr. Bertroche doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the "Invading Your Privacy" section of his site talking about privacy. He uses the section to rail against health care reform in general, and what he writes is more, um, free-form:

... just today, (8-6-09) Rep. Pelosi called the health care reform bill protesters "Nazi's". OH. MY. GOD. Just like the Commucrat she is, she is utilizing Pres. Chavez's method of getting rid of dissenters. Pretty soon I think she'll be calling for jail terms for the protestors....

If you don't think your doctor doesn't listen to you now, wait till he's behind a computer and doesn't even look up at you. Sheesh. There is a physician group in town that has obtained EMR. I have picked up a lot of patients from them, all with the complaint of "all they do is tap their screens". I'm not kidding. Imagine that scenario nationwide....

Pres. Obama has already appointed a board of people to determine "best practices". It's a nice euphemism for rationing. They are going to determine who gets what care. If you look at the construction of this board, it is going to consist of "czars" governing each specialty. (As an aside, is anyone else concerned with all the "czars" we have? To me, it's just another step to Communism)....

What if you child has autism? In the US they get treated. In the UK they don't. What if my mom or dad needed a pacemaker or a stent for a heart blockage? They're critical to me. But not a bean counter. In the US, my parents would get what they needed. In the UK, they just die....

I just want to point out that this isn't a transcript of off-the-cuff remarks by Bertroche, posted without his consent. This is the position paper he himself has posted on his own site. As the man himself would say, Sheesh.