But those of you who think that we are “safe” under the current system don’t realize (or don’t care) that most of us who buy health insurance through our employers are denied payment for straightforward issues such as a broken elbow or a kidney stone. The for-profit health system is obligated – by law – to spend as little money as possible on health care so as to maximize profits for shareholders.

Also, my 88-year-old mother (who has 1 paying job and 2 part-time jobs) recently had stroke symptoms and went to the emergency room on a Saturday evening. The doctor showed up an hour or 2 later, asked her how old she was, and when she said 88, he snarled at her “How long do you want to live anyway,” and continued being verbally abusive for 2 or 3 minutes. Then he left, without running tests or providing stroke medication.

This is how Americans are treated right now. If you are too old, or too sick, to hold down an upper-middle-class job, and get any really serious illness … well, just prepare to die, you don’t have any other choice.

It looks like Obama will indeed make it even worse because his actions show that he thinks that health insurance and pharmaceutical profits are more important than people’s lives.

I had a chance to immigrate to Canada years ago, but felt it would be unpatriotic to do so. I lived there 3 years and although I was never ill, my husband was, as were other people we knew. Everything was free, fast, and competent. We assumed we were paying higher taxes. But when we returned to the U.S. and sat down and worked out the figures, we realized that taxes are higher in the U.S.

I’d take Canada’s system any day. Not that we’ll ever have that option.

You’re right. It’s not euthanasia.

It’s murder.

If someone did the same to an animal, they’d be thrown UNDER the jail.

EOD.

“the bottom line is that if your pain is not being controlled, you are not receiving appropriate care.” Sounds like a religious right argument to me and another generalized statement. You can’t impose your personal opinion on every medical situation.

“I am definitely going to interfere with people wanting euthanasia or assisted suicide due to improper care.” Gee, I just don’t know. Setting yourself up as some sort of god to impose your personal values on all other citizens seems pretty radical. Write your book if that is your desire. Deal with your own family. But stay out of other citizens’ personal & private lives.

Indeed, I’ve treated two patients in the US whose osteoporosis and other medical problems made surgery so risky we eleced to treat them medically, and they healed.

But I’m not sure that it would be cheaper: it would require six months of skilled nursing care.
The problem is that if the “mindset” of “euthanasia/price control gets embedded into the health care system, the alternative treatment, which requires a lot of nursing care and TLC, won’t be done either. The patients will merely be narcotized and food/fluids withheld until they die.

which is not the same thing as chosing non sugical treatment of a hip fracture.

Of course, there is a third alternative: Dump them home with the family.

We also had a relative here in the Philippies, also a non surgical candidate due to medical prolems, who died miserably of pneumonia three months after a hip fracture.

So I’m not sure that it’ cheaper in the long run, since skilled nursing homes are also expensive, and unlike the Philippines, one doubts that extended families would be available to treat these people at home.

There is NO SUCH THING AS APPROPRIATE SELF-DETERMINED DYING. If you think you need “self-determined dying,” it means you are NOT getting appropriate care!!!

On the Right we have people like Prof. Halper screaming “euthanasia” over care that usually prolongs and improves life and always respects it and is definitely NOT euthanasia or assisted suicide. On the Left we have actual euthanasia and assisted suicide cloaked in phony compassion by death junkies with God complexes, each and every one a minion of Dr. Kevorkian who, the Detroit Free Press reported in 1997, killed a number of people during his reign of terror who were not terminally ill and some WHO HAD NOTHING WRONG WITH THEIR HEALTH WHATSOEVER. The newspaper’s extensive analysis of Kevorkian’s victims is now available as a paperback book entitled, “The Suicide Machine.”

This is why I’m writing a book — to clear up misunderstandings and debunk the lies.

Regarding your comment, “But if a person is in severe pain with no hope of recovery from a terminal illness, you have no right to interfere in their personal decision to end things.”

Pain management is actually one of the main reasons that hospice care PROLONGS life WITH a good quality of life right to the end: hospice doctors know how to manage pain MUCH better than acute care doctors. Pain management for the dying is a specialty and in a completely different league than the pain management protocols in acute care.

The bottom line is that if your pain is not being controlled, you are not receiving appropriate care and it is improper care that is making you want to die, not the pain. And I am definitely going to interfere with people being forced into wanting euthanasia or assisted suicide due to improper care, especially since proper care is cheap and low-tech.

#23, Penny: Death and dignity do not go together in the acute care system as often as they should. But palliative medicine lifts every bit of pain and fear it is possible to remove from dying, which gives the dying and their loved ones the ability to express their love and say their good-byes. In those circumstances, there is great dignity and meaning available in the experience of dying.

#15 Cynthia Yockey: “I want to make it clear that I am opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide.” That’s fine for you; just make sure your legal documents are in order. But if a person is in severe pain with no hope of recovery from a terminal illness, you have no right to interfere in their personal decision to end things.