It is not this Doctor's place to "imagine" what his patient wants.
Pate said payment for Nikolouzos' care was never an issue for St. Luke's, contrary to claims by the Nikolouzos family. Payment for Nikolouzos' care at Avalon Place was thought to be an issue; Caballero said in court a week ago that the San Antonio nursing home turned down Nikolouzos because his Medicare was about to be reduced.
This guy is on Medicare, correct?
In that case, it is no more "socialized medicine" than that which is already preacticed here in the USA.
Again, this decision should be up to family memebers, not the hospital staff.
Governor George W. Bush didn't think so when he signed the bill giving hospitals in Texas the right to do this.
Again, this decision should be up to family memebers, not the hospital staff.
Technology is getting to the point where anyone with any condition can be kept alive unaturally by plugging them into a machine.
Lets say 20 years from now some guy is decapitated in an auto accident, but the rest of his body can be kept alive through life support. Should taxpayers be forced to foot the bill if the family wants to keep a headless body alive? The line has to be drawn somewhere or else we will have to start building hundreds of hospitals and raise taxes to 100% to satisfy people who won't let go.
"I can't imagine anybody in his condition wanting extraordinary means of life support to be kept alive."
I was a quadriplegic for two months, a lot of people said the same about me. That was thirty years ago and here I am, walking around almost like I was a real person.