"Canuck57" wrote in message
...
On 26/12/2009 12:47 PM, Bill McKee wrote:
"John wrote in message
news
On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:44:40 -0500, Gene
wrote:
On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:56:19 -0500, John
wrote:
However,
I believe you should have the choice.
What choice? Dying with dignity or being kept alive, with
extraordinary means, in a persistent vegetative state? Indefinitely?
And, there's always the chance
that the extra little amount of medical care would add another ten
fruitful years to your life.
I have absolutely no idea what you mean by this. Let's recap, per your
link:
".... has earned a reputation as a place where doctors will go to
virtually any length and expense to try to save a patient's life. "
This sounds great until you have to admit that an insurance policy
isn't an unlimited blank check. Sooner or later, whoever is "the deep
pockets" is going to start "rationing health care." But let's get real
and evaluate the next sentence.....
"If you come into this hospital, we're not going to let you die...."
Holy Crap, what incredible impertinence! That is just NOT their
decision. But wait, if you are in a persistent vegetative state, and
they keep your heart beating by extraordinary means..... uh..... you
haven't "died" yet..... right?
At least not until the money runs out and they have to start
rationing...... trust me.... there is NO FREE LUNCH.... and this has
NOTHING to do with humanitarian feelings toward you.... this is a
cold, hard, business decision.....
You missed this:
"Take the case of Salah Putrus, who at age 71 had a long history of
heart failure.
After repeated visits to his local hospital near Burbank, Calif., Mr.
Putrus was referred to U.C.L.A. this year to be evaluated for a heart
transplant.
Some other medical centers might have considered Mr. Putrus too old
for the surgery. But U.C.L.A.'s attitude was "let's see what we can do
for him," said his physician there, Dr. Tamara Horwich.
Indeed, Mr. Putrus recalled, Dr. Horwich and her colleagues "did every
test." They changed his medicines to reduce the amount of water he was
retaining. They even removed some teeth that could be a potential
source of infection.
His condition improved so much that more than six months later, Mr.
Putrus has remained out of the hospital and is no longer considered in
active need of a transplant. "
--
John H
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the
gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
Churchill
Hell of a difference between 71 and 85 or 90 years old. A 94 year old
with
congestive heart failure and you are going to spend a 100k or so to
prolong
life a month?
So who gets to play god?
I am sure your health care would be cheaper if you were to sign a binding
orrevokable document that says you will never require an operation over
$100K and they are under no obligation to provided it. You cannot sue,
whine, bitch, contemplate or whatever when your term is up. This is
irrevocable in your lifetime.
Don't worry, Americans just subscribed to this. Read up on how government
saves on health care. Old farts looking for a free lunch, guess what, you
might find you are too old to qualify for the by-pass or whatever....
http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/Canada.pdf
A lot of truth under this title:
Rationing : “Everything is Free but Nothing is Readily Available” (Frogue
et al, 2001)
If you have the money, no problem with your family paying for extraordinary
means to keep you alive. Even in a vegetative state. But when it comes to
insurance, a 90 year old with a life expectancy of 6 months, who has no idea
of who he is or where he is, does not need the rest of us to supply him
extraordinary healthcare.