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Life & Times Transcript
10/11/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Going overseas. It's a way to get cutting edge medical care at affordable prices, but what are the risks? Toi Arnold>> I was a little apprehensive because, you know, it's a country that I've never been to before. You know, the facilities? How are the doctors over there? How is the care? Dr. David Aizuss>> The issue of the quality of the care that they're receiving and the follow-up care that they receive is a major issue that needs to be resolved. Val Zavala>> And then, there's a regal presence in the theaters this weekend, but will she hold sway over our critics? It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> Most of us have heard the stories of Americans going overseas for a cosmetic surgery, but now more people are going abroad for more serious medical treatment. Many of them are uninsured who have found out that it costs a fraction of what it costs here. But how do they know they're in good hands? Well, those are questions that Toi Arnold from Culver City had to ask before she flew to Thailand. Hena Cuevas has our story. Hena Cuevas>> In her forty-four years, Toi Arnold had never traveled outside the United States. So when this Culver City designer was told she should fly to Thailand for a cutting edge medical procedure, she was uneasy. Toi Arnold>> I was a little apprehensive because, you know, it's a country that I've never been to before. You know, the facilities? How are the doctors over there? How is the care and on and on and on. Hena Cuevas>> But last March, despite her fears, Toi flew ten thousand miles to a country she'd never been to. What made her take such a big step? Fibroids. Fibroids are benign tumors that form in the uterus. They're very common. Four out of ten women suffer from them. Toi Arnold>> The fibroids that I had were about the size of a five or six month fetus. Hena Cuevas>> Toi's condition was so severe that she was in pain and bleeding heavily. Toi Arnold>> I wasn't able to work because I never knew when it was going to come on. I never knew how long it was going to last. I was passing clots like the size of my fist, you know, soiling clothes. Hena Cuevas>> Toi was told that the only cure was a hysterectomy, the complete removal of her uterus, but she and her boyfriend weren't sure. Toi Arnold>> We had the option of doing a hysterectomy which was not an option for us. I don't have children and I plan on having a child and he was just dead set against it, so we started researching other options. Hena Cuevas>> So she launched her research which took her to fibroids.com. The website advertising curing fibroids without surgery. Dr. Bruce McLucas>> "There's a fibroid right there." Hena Cuevas>> Dr. Bruce McLucas is an OB-GYN at UCLA. He's developed a new procedure called fibroid embolization. He enters the groin through a catheter. He then blocks the blood supply to the fibroids. As they get less blood, the fibroids get smaller. Dr. Bruce McLucas>> We put in like little grains of sand until we block the blood vessels and, over a course of six months, the fibroids shrink fifty percent. They never come back. Toi Arnold>> I didn't have to be concerned about losing my uterus, my ovaries, anything that would prevent me from having a child. I was like this sounds great. This is it. Hena Cuevas>> But under Toi's insurance, it was a hysterectomy or nothing. To get this new procedure, she would have to pay out of her own pocket. Not giving up, Toi went to see Dr. McLucas. Toi Arnold>> I shared with him what was going on with me and, I don't know, he felt what I was going through and he said, "Toi, I have a suggestion. I don't know if you're game for it, but I'm going to give you a suggestion. You can talk it over and find out if this is what you'd like to do." Hena Cuevas>> His recommendation? Travel to Thailand to have the procedure done there. It would all be handled through a joint venture called MEDS Global Healthcare. The organization was started by Dr. Rome Jutabha who works with Dr. McLucas. In 1999, Jutabha started the company as an option for patients who were looking for less expensive care overseas. Dr.Rome Jutabha>> I saw that there are lot of patients here in the United States who couldn't afford the health care. Many of them had to declare bankruptcy and then be treated in the county system and there was a definite need for patients who just could not get adequate care here. Hena Cuevas>> MEDS Global Healthcare is part of a growing trend commonly referred to as medical tourism. On the internet, hundreds of companies arrange travel for various medical procedures. The most popular is cosmetic surgery, but there are also more extensive ones such as knee and hip replacements. In 2005, more than a hundred fifty thousand Americans traveled overseas for medical care. For Toi, the biggest appeal was cost. The entire trip would be six thousand dollars cash. That's less than half of what it would be in the United States. Toi Arnold>> The airfare, the hotel accommodations, all was inclusive. So I was like this is the way to go. Hena Cuevas>> So last March, she went to Thailand. MEDS followed her throughout the entire process. This is their video. In Thailand, she met with Doctors Jutabha and McLucas, as well as the team of Thai surgeons who would be performing the operation. McLucas would be supervising. Dr. Bruce McLucas>> "We'll make a small incision in your groin about as big as what they use to draw blood today." Toi Arnold>> "Okay." Dr. Bruce McLucas>> "If I ask you to tell me what happened, you wouldn't know (laughter)." We're dealing with patients who otherwise wouldn't get care, people who maybe can afford the few thousand dollars it's going to cost them to get over to Bangkok to get this procedure as opposed to the tens of thousands that would be done here in California. So right now, its patients getting care that they normally wouldn't get at all. Hena Cuevas>> Why the huge difference? Jutabha says that in Thailand, for example, a hospital bed runs about a hundred fifty dollars a night. That same bed in the United States would be over a thousand dollars. Is this a form of outsourcing? Dr. Rome Jutabha>> No, it's really not. This is really globalized health care in which, if we can travel across town for different procedures or travel out of state for procedures, this is just traveling a little bit farther. Hena Cuevas>> But going overseas for medical care involves a lot more than just jumping on an airplane, showing up at a hospital and having a procedure done. Before any of that can happen, there are a lot of questions that need to be asked. For example, can the patient take the long trip home after the surgery? What about after-care or any kind of side effects? But most importantly, if something were to go wrong, who is responsible? Dr. David Aizuss>> "Look straight." Hena Cuevas>> This trend in health care concerns Dr. David Aizuss. He's the President of the Los Angeles County Medical Association. Dr. David Aizuss>> You know, the medical association has not taken a formal position, but it's something that we're watching with concern. Our concern is for the patients. Patients don't always know exactly what they're getting into when they travel overseas. Hena Cuevas>> As far as liability, he says, the laws that apply are those of the country where the procedure happened. Dr. David Aizuss>> There may not be an ability to obtain any kind of financial award if they're injured or hurt and there is not necessarily the capacity to take care of these people if something untoward occurs in a foreign country. Hena Cuevas>> There is a form of certification. Foreign hospitals must be accredited by the Joint Commission International. That's a United States organization that visits and certifies each facility. Also, in the case of MEDS, the Thai doctors are all trained by United States physicians. Dr. Bruce McLucas>> I'm still teaching, which is another wonderful thing that I get to do. In Bangkok, I get to supervise and teach radiologists how to do this new procedure. I mean, they're very good. Hena Cuevas>> It's now more than six months since her trip and Toi's fibroids are shrinking. She's now working on her design business and planning for a child. Toi Arnold>> One good thing about what I went through is that there's an alternative. A lot of women would feel like, "I would love to have that procedure, but I don't have any choice. I have to have a hysterectomy. I have to have a myomectomy because I don't have insurance." No, you don't. No, you don't. There is an alternative and this is it. Hena Cuevas>> It's an alternative that she believes more people like her will choose, people who are caught off-guard by the rising cost of health care in the United States. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> So what do you think of Americans getting medical treatment overseas? You can post your comments and opinions on our blog. Just go to kcet.org/lifeandtimes/blog. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Believe it or not, and you wouldn't know by looking at it, but this is the cleanest street in the entire city of Los Angeles. It's just a short street called Oros between the 5 Freeway and the Los Angeles River, but it's the cleanest street in the entire city and I talked to Larry Smith of North East Trees to find out why. As Larry explains, it has nothing to do with trash and everything to do with water. What have you done when it comes to rainwater and runoff? Larry Smith>> Well, we've managed to capture all the water coming off the driveways and along the street and clean it in such a way that there will be zero pollutants going into the Los Angeles River as a result of the project. Val Zavala>> We should mention that the Los Angeles River is only a few yards down there. Larry Smith>> Only a few yards down here at the end of the street where it says "End". Val Zavala>> It runs more than fifty miles from Canoga Park to Long Beach and it's bordered by thousands of streets like this, and what happens when it rains? Larry Smith>> The water used to just come down here and run right through, untreated, unfiltered, right into the river on the other side of this surface road. Val Zavala>> Gunk and everything, straight to the river? Larry Smith>> Exactly. Val Zavala>> Larry says that, for decades, the Los Angeles River has been used like a sewer. Little wonder that more than two hundred contaminants have been found in the Los Angeles River and that's where this impressive new system comes in. This is key, right? It starts right here? This drain? Larry Smith>> It starts right here. Water comes down the driveway and goes into this drain and then this drain has water routed into this. Underneath here is a storm water garden, we're calling that. We have pipes, sand and gravel, so water actually percolates back into the ground. Val Zavala>> And here's what you can't see beneath the sidewalk, a sophisticated system of pipes, drains, filters and gravel, all designed to clean the water as it migrates underground toward the river. Larry Smith>> The trace metals, bacteria are taken out of the water and also the water is taken up by the roots of plants and eventually evaporated or transpired out through the canopy and cleaned further by bacteria and trace metals also being taken out of the water. Val Zavala>> So these plants are being watered from underground? Larry Smith>> Somewhat, yes, during the rain when we actually have precipitation. Val Zavala>> And they're native plants? Larry Smith>> They're native plants. This happens to be a Coast Live Oak. Val Zavala>> Now it's also really pretty the way that you make the sidewalk nice and winding. Is that just for aesthetic purposes (laughter)? Larry Smith>> Well, it's both for aesthetic, but also for some very practical reasons. We need it because this is a residential street with lots of curbside parking. We want to make sure that people actually come out of their cars and step onto the concrete rather than the planter. That was one reason. Val Zavala>> That's a great idea, so you don't step on plants. Larry Smith>> Instead of stepping on plants. Now the other reason, if you notice, the actual sidewalk is tilted towards the planter, so any water that lands on the concrete actually goes into the planter and is further cleaned and infiltrated. Val Zavala>> Very smart. So what happens to the water that still is in the gutter? There's some that still runs down the gutter, right? Larry Smith>> Yes. Water that doesn't actually get captured by a trench being across the driveway or that lands in the street comes down the gutters on both sides and goes into catch basins on both sides and actually gets routed into this park. Val Zavala>> So from the catch basin, it goes underground, more pipes, filters and whatnot, and it flows and waters this park here? This is new too? Larry Smith>> Exactly. We're actually walking right over where the pipes are underground. They come underneath this planted area in the middle and water is infiltrated through those pipes, the sand and gravel underneath and into the ground and cleaned in that fashion. The metals are taken out, the bacteria is taken out, grease and oil is taken out and so forth. Val Zavala>> And again, this is all native plants here too? Larry Smith>> All native plants in the middle here. This park was actually originally built in the year 2000. This was an empty lot at one time. Val Zavala>> And take a look at this pocket park only a year ago. And this is what it looks like today. Larry says that other spots along this Elysian Valley neighborhood could look like this too. Larry Smith>> We can do this in any park, any open space condition that you see at the end of a street. Val Zavala>> The residents in the neighborhood love it. Echo Allen>> It's saying I'm in a great neighborhood. I don't have to rush anywhere and I can just meander and look at the great foliage and trees and think about life (laughter). Dion Rutherford>> I seen them like when they started digging out the hole and I learned a lot about, you know, the flow of the water and how they're filtering it, which I think is a beautiful idea, beautiful. Because it doesn't have any of the oils or the bad stuff that should be going down into the river and I think that's beautiful to protect the river. Val Zavala>> So the water that nourishes those plants there stays there all the time? Nothing ever goes into the river? Larry Smith>> No, not exactly. What happens is, the water is migrating slowly through the soil. In nature, in a forest, that's what water does. It migrates slowly underground into the ground and eventually seeks its way through to the nearest stream, in this case, the river. Val Zavala>> The river right there? Larry Smith>> Eventually, it will make it there, but it takes -- Val Zavala>> -- slowly, slowly, slowly the clean water will eventually go into the river. Larry Smith>> Right, exactly. Val Zavala>> So it actually prevents a lot of water from going into the river at all because it's being used for your park. Larry Smith>> Exactly. It's being used for the park. It's being stored in the watershed, if you will, underground. That's the watershed. Eventually slowly, but in a cleaner fashion, it makes its way to the river and that is restoring nature's services. That's restoring how water actually works in a more natural setting. Val Zavala>> But some people would say, well, that means there's not going to be any water in the river because it will all be absorbed in these parks. Larry Smith>> There'll be what is considered more of a natural water regime in the river. The system in the city is designed to flush the water out off of our streets and property as fast as it can go and that's why this channel was constructed the way it was. Val Zavala>> It has to be so big because it has to have a lot of water quickly? Larry Smith>> Exactly. Val Zavala>> And you're saying no. Larry Smith>> No, it doesn't have to. If we do enough of these and water is stored locally, then we don't need as much capacity here. Not only that, the water is cleaner once it does make its way naturally to the river. Val Zavala>> So these parks along the way act like little sponges, in a sense? Larry Smith>> Exactly. Val Zavala>> Keeping the water from gushing. Larry Smith>> Exactly. It changes the whole dynamic of what's happening in the urban watershed. Val Zavala>> So all this is great, but you may be wondering how much did it cost? Well, this one project cost eight hundred thousand dollars, part city and part state money. But Larry says that a lot of that went for research and startup costs and future green streets, as he calls them, would cost a lot less. Still, with dirty water flowing from thousands of streets along the river, doing this on a large scale would cost in the tens of millions of dollars. But Larry Smith says that you've got to start somewhere. I see these gates along the river in a lot of places, but I haven't seen these. These are gorgeous. These are steelhead? Is that what that is? Larry Smith>> Yes, steelhead trout, exactly. Val Zavala>> Beautiful. Why did you choose that? Larry Smith>> Well, for many of us at North East Trees and other organizations, this symbolizes the ultimate vision for the Los Angeles River, that when steelhead can return to the river, we will truly have a clean river. Val Zavala>> Steelhead used to be in the Los Angeles River? Larry Smith>> Steelhead used to be in the Los Angeles River, but it requires a very clean river and water that's coming naturally into the river that's very clean and would symbolize a clean watershed. Val Zavala>> So that's your ultimate goal? Larry Smith: Ultimate goal. That's the vision. Val Zavala>> How many years do you think that will be? Larry Smith>> I'd like to say in my lifetime. Val Zavala>> Well, you look young enough to make that about thirty or forty years (laughter)? Larry Smith>> Yeah, about that (laughter). Val Zavala>> Larry Smith, best of luck to you. It's a beautiful project and thank you so much for all your hard work. Larry Smith>> Thank you, thank you. Val Zavala>> For more information on the Oros Street project and other projects, you can go to their website at northeasttrees.org. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week brings back Cate Blanchette to the character of Queen Elizabeth. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" costars Geoffrey Rush and Clive Owen. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Jean Oppenheimer of Village Voice Media and Andy Klein of CityBeat. Jean, what did you think of "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"? Jean Oppenheimer>> Well, I think Cate Blanchette is magnificent and Clive Owen is very dashing and I thought there was some very good lines of dialog and it's very contemporary in its themes because here we are four hundred years later and we're still involved in religious wars (laughter). However, the film suffers from wall to wall bombastic musical score, a camera that can't stop soaring and just sweeping around, very fake, fake looking backdrops and special effects, a really rinky-dink looking battle scene for the end battle, and one brief scene that is so melodramatically conceived and so awful that I can't fail to mention it. Larry Mantle>> That's too bad. A waste of talent? Jean Oppenheimer>> Well, it's not really a waste because I really think that Cate Blanchette is worth seeing in anything and she's very good in this. She really brings out what I assume is Elizabeth's fierce intelligence and her wit and an unexpected kindness, so it's worth seeing for her. Larry Mantle>> The mystery, "Sleuth", has been remade in a new edition thirty-five years after the original. It's still based on Anthony Shaffer's play, but the screenplay is adapted by Harold Pinter. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh and it stars Michael Caine who was in the original, but this time he's taking on the role that was Lord Olivier's, and Jude Law plays the younger character, the new sleuth. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> The new "Sleuth", Andy Klein? Andy Klein>> Well, you know, Larry, remakes are always a dicey business. I have to give these guys props because they really, rather than trying to do the original film better or in some tacky way updated, they basically took a couple of basic concepts of the plot and spun something completely different off of it. Now the result is nowhere near as much immediate fun as the original, which I -- Larry Mantle>> -- I loved the old one. Andy Klein>> I re-watched it recently and Olivier is so amazing that actually I almost got a headache. He's so intense that you can barely deal with it. Michael Caine, of course, is a much more relaxed presence always and he's terrific here. Jude Law, I thought, was a little mis-cast. He's as good as he can be, but he can't quite hold the screen with Caine who could hold the screen with Olivier, so I had some qualms. They've changed it from being class-based to being much more about sexual stuff (laughter) which I'll leave vague. Kenneth Branagh really sort of directs the be-Jesus out of it. I mean, like fancy camera setups and all this stuff. Larry Mantle>> Jean? Jean Oppenheimer>> Well, I didn't think Jude Law was bad. I thought he really did an okay job. I agree with Andy that it was -- I liked the way it was shot. In fact, all the things I liked about the film for about the first half hour or forty-five minutes are all the things I got tired of and found very schematic in the second half. How it was shot was very interesting and a lot of it is shot as though you're looking at security monitors that the Michael Caine character has all around his house. I liked the way that, at the very beginning, they're just showing sort of torsos and legs of the two men before you really get to shots of them and then it's one and then the other before they go to a two-shot. I really liked how it was done there, but after about thirty or forty-five minutes, it just seemed very schematic. All the stuff I'd liked just sort of got boring. Larry Mantle>> The Russian mob crime thriller, "We Own the Night", stars Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Eva Mendes. The film is written and directed by James Gray. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Jean, what did you think of "We Own the Night"? Jean Oppenheimer>> Not a whole lot. The setup is very similar to "The Departed". You have two brothers. One is a cop; one is a criminal. I think Joaquin Phoenix does the best possible job he can, but he is really facing a story and a script that is so unconvincing and melodramatic that there's no way to save it. Writer-director James Gray, I think, really neglected to build a believable foundation for the plot. For example, the character of Joaquin Phoenix is in with the Russian Mob. Well, why do they trust him? He's not Russian. He doesn't speak Russian. I mean, I saw "Eastern Promises". I know they only trust their own (laughter), so that wasn't explained. Also, a lot of it is his relationship with his brother played by Mark Wahlberg, but we don't know anything about what their relationship was beforehand. So there are a lot of things like this that I think, you know, you just don't find the script convincing and, as the story goes on, it gets more and more melodramatic and more and more unconvincing. Larry Mantle>> The romantic comedy, "Lars and the Real Girl", features Ryan Gosling alongside a vinyl girl. The film is directed by Craig Gillespie. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> "Lars and the Real Girl", Andy? Andy Klein>> You know, Larry, this was a really pleasant surprise for me. Given the log line of this film, the idea of, you know, boy meets latex girl, boy falls for latex girl, I didn't even want to go see it. I mean, it just sounded so tacky. In fact, it's incredibly sweet. It's done with an amazing amount of taste, some of which I think maybe involves a little fantasyland stuff here. It's made very clear from the beginning that this is not a sexual attraction. This is a romantic attraction which, if you think of it, is maybe even creepier (laughter). But the fact is that the whole town, everybody, gets into this delusion of his in this amazingly benevolent way. It's almost hard for me to believe that there would be a town where everyone was indeed so kind. But there's some actual emotional depth and I also think it brings up some interesting issues of sort of metaphysical identity as in "Castaway", the Tom Hanks film, where she's the volleyball. Larry Mantle>> Jean? Jean Oppenheimer>> I adored this movie. To me, it's this year's "Little Miss Sunshine". If you go expecting a flat-out comedy, you're really going to be disappointed. This is a poignant drama that happens to have a whole lot of humor in it. It is acted so beautifully by everybody starting with Ryan Gosling. The first time you see him, there is such pain in his eyes that you know he is going through something emotionally. I guess I would disagree with Andy. I don't see it as a romantic attraction as much as almost an emotional one because the guy has all these emotional problems and how you see the family and the town around him trying to help make him better. I mean, in the end, I guess you'd have to think of this as a fantasy. I loved it. Larry Mantle>> Thanks for joining us for FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle with critics Andy Klein of CityBeat and Jean Oppenheimer of Village Voice Media. Please join us again next week at this same time for the next FilmWeek on Life and Times. Val Zavala>> For a longer version of FilmWeek, tune in to KPCC public radio Friday mornings at eleven. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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