AMA acts on Terry Schiavo - inspired policy

Chicago Sun Times ^ | June 21, 2005 | LINDSEY TANNER

[FairOpinion]

The politicization of Terri Schiavo prompted the American Medical Association on Tuesday to adopt policy opposing any legislation that presumes patients would want life-sustaining treatment unless it is clear that they would not.

Tuesday's action at the annual meeting of the nation's largest doctors group also reaffirms existing AMA policy that says it is ethical in some cases to discontinue life-sustaining treatment if it is in the patient's best interests.

[Earthdweller]

Uh Oh..

Clearwater will not be happy about this.

[stands2reason]

Why do you say that?

[EternalVigilance]

Looks to me like the AMA is firmly on the euthanasia fast-track.

Am I reading this wrong?

[EternalVigilance]

Tuesday's action at the annual meeting of the nation's largest doctors group also reaffirms existing AMA policy that says it is ethical in some cases to discontinue life-sustaining treatment if it is in the patient's best interests.

[Earthdweller]

Clearwater won't be happy that it's being presented here on FR for us to digest..my bad for no clarification.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>...it is ethical in some cases to discontinue life-sustaining treatment if it is in the patient's best interests.

And just who gets to decide what THAT means....

[ClancyJ]

There will be no digesting of this on FR. It is only a conspiracy theory after all.

Who the hell cares whether a patient lives or dies. If they don't want to pay a hospital to kill them - let them stay home and die.

[Earthdweller]

And just who gets to decide what THAT means....

Why the "Gods" themselves.

"Existing AMA policy did not help Schiavo and "did not help the courts and Congress keep their noses out" ..... Dr. Arvind Goyal of Rolling Meadows told AMA delegates Tuesday."

[Earthdweller]

So I go in to the hospital with no living will and I need life-sustaining treatment and they don't have to give it to me if they don't want to....

All under the new premise that I don't even have to be brain dead.

nice.

[Now_is_The_Time]

The eugenicists at the AMA would have made Hitler proud.

[ARCADIA]

Looks to me like the AMA is firmly on the euthanasia fast-track.

It is more like the doctors will decide whether you live or die based upon your net present value to them. If they can harvest your kidneys and sell them to someone else for $100 grand, then its your time to die.

[EdHallick]

I still can`t get over this headstone..What a selfish putz. It looks like Terri herself is saying "I kept my promise"

[Earthdweller]

Why are we worried about the government controlling our lives?

Looks like one organization in control of our doctors along with the courts have already made all our decisions for us in advance.

[Gondring]

Yeah, that marker sure is ridiculous. But I can't imagine being in his shoes, losing his wife and being falsely accused by in-laws and having to fight them to follow what you believe she'd have wanted. That would drive anyone crazy, I think!

But another question...if she departed the earth so long ago, why doesn't the money for her go back? Oh wait...it had to be spent to fight to protect her wishes. :-(

[Earthdweller]

I am sure he could have been crazy under the circumstances from the beginning.

Most people would crack under the stress..

Is it possible he was under so much stress that he hallucinated Terri saying that she wanted to live?

I wonder if anyone gave the poor man a psych exam.

[The Phantom FReeper]

The AMA is an amazingly liberal organization.

[Earthdweller]

...hallucinated Terri saying that she didn't want to live?

[Gondring]

I am sure he could have been crazy under the circumstances from the beginning

Nope...can't be. Ste. Terri married him. Recall the Eastertime comparisons...do you think a member of the Trinity (Jesus, Mary, Terri) would make an error like marrying a guy who would go crazy?

</sarc>

Yes, an over the top comment, but I want you to recall the comments that people were making about this woman they had never met...proclaiming her a saint, saying she was like Jesus, etc. And if they were to do that, they'd be claiming more knowledge of her than her own husband...so on the other hand, they had to demonize Mr. Schiavo.

I wonder if anyone gave the poor man a psych exam.

I don't have much reason to like Mr. Schiavo, yet your comment shows some true compassion. I do hope the Schindlers have gotten their much needed psychiatric help, too...some of their behaviour has been positively loony! And when they expressed that they were more concerned with their own desires than what Mrs. Schiavo would have actually wanted, I think it revealed a pathologic level of self-centeredness.

IANAP, nor a psychologist!

[Earthdweller]

You know..I've gotten to the point that I think all of the members of the family have been taken for a ride by the big players.

I don't think the Schindlers or the Schiavos could have been thinking well enough to plan all this out under the stress that they were put through.