March 06, 2009

Senator Warner wants to start a "discussion" about end-of-life issues

From The Virginian Pilot. Make no mistake about where this is headed: first it will be just ensuring that everyone has "information," next it will be voluntary "guidelines," and then the "guidelines" will no longer be voluntary. Translation: your friendly federal government wants to decide when to pull the plug--because it knows best.

Posted by LMC at March 6, 2009 07:57 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Cool. So when do we get that yummy soylent green?

Posted by: rbj at March 6, 2009 08:41 AM

End of life decisions must be made by the patients or the families, but always in accordance with the dignity of the human person.

The responsibility of healthcare providers is to inform the decision makers of benefits and limits of medicine. But the decision must be family's.

But when the govenment or healthcare provider, assumes the role of decision maker, by fiat or when the family abrogate's its responsibility, we are all heading down a dark road. For who can check the government tendency to act in its own
self interest (e.g. to ration healthcare)? The government then, no longer protects the rights of the weak against the strong, and all kinds of evil becomes frightenly possible.

Posted by: kmr at March 6, 2009 10:12 PM

Let me put this a little simpler. When the government is paying for universal health care, then it will have a financial incintive for everyone to die at, say, 65. Treating 3-4 chronic diseases with 8-9 medicines, and maybe an occasional hospitalization? Nah.

Which is why you get stories of things happening like people dying after they can't have dialysis after age 65.

Posted by: owlish at March 7, 2009 11:48 PM