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Wed 11 Nov 2002Lending a hand to the French healthcare systemPARIS LETTER/Lara MarloweDr Taieb summoned his colleagues to look at the X-ray. "It's an enchondroma, a benign tumour that attacks the hand bones," he said pointing at the wavy outline of my fifth metacarpal, broken into several pieces. The enchondroma had weakened the bone, so it snapped when I crash-landed after my bicycle hit a cobblestone. I headed for a hospital emergency room, and my first encounter with what the World Health Organisation (WHO) claims is the world's best healthcare system.Dr Taieb wrapped the injured right paw like a mummy, and gave me a splint and sling. I'm a right-handed journalist, with a clumsy left hand, I explained. He shook his head from side to side, smiling. "It will hurt for the rest of your life," he predicted. "You'll have a hard time working." Tears welled up in my eyes; the cheerful doctor gave me a pat on the head and an appointment with an orthopaedist for three weeks later.