Open wide." That's the sound of the castor oil called health care reform being administered to the country.

It's not that the country doesn't need health care reform; it's just that the country doesn't need stitches when the underlying wound hasn't been fully studied.

The Obama administration has set an aggressive deadline for Congress to overhaul the entire U.S. health care apparatus. How can we expect a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan in six weeks, when there have been 40-plus years of failed attempts before this?

This is supposed to be a bipartisan plan. Is it really, when the administration is trying to get it pushed through before adequate debate has taken place? Never mind the feeling that it is being run through the Congress fast -- before another election that could upset the applecart and sizable majority the democrats enjoy.

We've heard untold horrors of health care mistakes from a misread label or ill-trained technician cleaning endoscope equipment. What kind of health care will emerge from hurriedly passing what may be the largest expansion of a government program? Like patients undergoing complicated surgery in the emergency room, someone has to worry about the bill.

A real dialogue is, again, unlikely as we plod through scripted infomercials on the plan cleverly disguised as debates. The declaration by President Obama that "this is the moment" to address the moral imperative runs foul against his promise for a truly bipartisan approach to governing.

Much debate still remains over what ills the patient before we write the prescription.

That said, a deadline or some sort of deadline is not a bad idea for drawing up plans so that this overhaul doesn't languish in committee. Creating a manageable timetable -- something that includes accepting ideas and solutions from all arenas, examining the financing, crafting the reform, and placing it in front of the American people for debate -- is imperative. But it's unreasonable and unwise to expect all that to get through Congress in six weeks.

Physicians now serving congress as lawmakers should be tapped early and often in this process. There's wisdom in the ranks, regardless of what most of us think of Congress.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., chairman of the Republican Study Committee and former physician, said it best in a May newspaper column: "We stand at a crossroads in American health care. One direction leads to more government interference in personal decisions and, eventually, health care rationing. The other direction will ensure coverage, empower patients, foster innovation of new treatments and coverage options and provide the highest quality care.

Meddling with tax breaks for employers and complicated subsidies may undercut basic foundations for a majority of people receiving care. Choice and free-market solutions should be a complete part of the plan. The Republican and bipartisan plans unveiled Wednesday need a full review and inclusion as we go forward.

The American people are being setup to take a horse-pill prescription without really knowing how much it'll cost or what the side effects will be.