Commentary: When a feeding tube borders on the barbaric

Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | May 28, 1997 | Dr. Ronald Cranford, MD

[Sabatier]

...It's not about your right to refuse medical treatment.

It's about the deliberate killing of the more vulnerable in our society....


Exactly. As far as I'm concerned, Terri isn't being "allowed to die". She's being executed.

[MarMema]

Wow. What made you dig this one up?

[AFreeBird]

The rest, suctioning , Iv's, Lab draws, treating infections are ,to me ,all part of making the person "comfortable ".

No, what makes the person comfortable is a morphine drip. All the rest is to make others feel comfortable. If a body is going to go; if the mind is gone and the body is only viable as long as machines can make it so, then let the person go and rest in peace.

It comes down to the question of who are we doing this for; them or us?

And these are issues best left to the families. The media circus, the courts, the appeals, the politicians, the protset marches.... just vultures circling overhead. Quite frankly I'm sick of all this crap. It's not like she was just in an accident, or suffered a massive stroke or heart attack 6 mos. to a year ago - its been what, 14 YEARS?

Let the poor woman rest in God's house.

[Darnright]

>If people really understood the reality of this dementia, I doubt they'd find it an acceptable lifestyle. Being in a state of wakeful oblivion for five to 10 years or sometimes longer is a degrading experience. The degradation is borne not so much by the patient, who may be completely unaware of him- or herself, but by the patient's family. They must endure the agony of seeing a loved one lying there year after year, often sustained only by a feeding tube.<

YIf people really understood the reality of this dementia, I doubt they'd find it an acceptable lifestyle. Being in a state of wakeful oblivion for five to 10 years or sometimes longer is a degrading experience. The degradation is borne not so much by the patient, who may be completely unaware of him- or herself, but by the patient's family. They must endure the agony of seeing a loved one lying there year after year, often sustained only by a feeding tube.<

Good grief. Nobody in their right mind finds Alzheimer's an acceptable lifestyle, but the average person doesn't spend much time dreaming about how to legally snuff their affected relative.

This doctor is a ghoul.

[blinachka]

This is the same "doctor" who said that people with severe brain injuries (in the USA) shouldn't have any Constitutional Rights. This man ought to be a mortician rather than a doctor. I thought that doctors took an oath to preserve life. It seems to me that this nut-case thinks that only healthy people (by HIS definition of healthy, mind you) deserve to live.

And who is HE to decide what "dignity" is? My father did NOT have much "dignity" according to this guy's definition for the last year or so of his life but guess what? He FOUGHT death up until the last second of his life because he did NOT want to die yet. He didn't consider his life not worth living because he didn't have any so-called "dignity" left!

My father was the bravest and most humble man I have ever known. He was strong in his heart and bore his illnesss with grace and courage. He inspired me beyond words. He taught me what life was all about and he showed me what TRUE "dignity" is.

I learned that true "dignity" is not being able to walk, talk or even wipe your own bottom, but STILL being able to laugh, smile and worry more about how everyone else is feeling. It's living what any reasonable person would consider a miserable existence but still being grateful for it and taking the time to let those you care for know it.

People like this Cranford make me sick. They have no clue what "dignity" is and are arrogant beyond belief. They are also scary because if they had it their way, only the healthy would be allowed to live.

If this guy had seen my Dad he would have thought his life wasn't worth fighting for - and he would have been wrong. DEAD wrong.

[blinachka]

The smart thing is to have a LIVING WILL.

A Health Care Proxy is even more important. You decide who decides for you if you are unable to.

[Coleus]

"It's hard to understand why. If we want our loved ones to live and die in dignity, we ought to think twice before suspending them in the last stage of irreversible dementia. At it is, it seems that we're not thinking at all."

Neurologist wants to kill Alzheimer's patients

[Conservative til I die]

. Their decision to remove Jamie's feeding tube should have been relatively simple -- and entirely private. But right-to-lifers and some disability groups fought the Butcher family every step of the way, assailing their legitimate choice to withhold futile treatment as an act of euthanasia.

How can a feeding tube be considered "futile treatment"? First, it is not medical treatment anymore than spoon feeding someone with no arms is. Second, how can it be considered futile if it satisfies the patient's nutritional needs and sustains their life?

[8mmMauser]

Thanks, Coleus. Pinged from August Terri Dailies

[T'wit]

>> How can a feeding tube be considered "futile treatment"?

EuthaNazis argue that patients should be killed if they are not going to recover or at least get better. Any food, water or treatment they receive thus becomes "futile" because it will only sustain them, not cure them.

People who advance this morally obnoxious view have no argument against Auschwitz and Treblinka.

[Mr. Silverback]

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[Mr. Silverback]

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[Treader]

Since you didn't state that you were family farm raised- I have to ask- were ya?

[TAdams8591]

"If people really understood the reality of this dementia, I doubt they'd find it an acceptable lifestyle."

The above comment by the author is very revealing and tells me all I need to know about his REAL intention. To him LIFESTYLE=LIFE. Much easier on the conscience to terminate a LIFESTYLE than a LIFE.