Dying can be denied food

The Sun (UK) ^ | July 28, 2005 | PETE BELL

[Mrs. Don-o]

THE high court ruled today doctors do have the power to withdraw food and drink from terminally ill patients - even if it is against their wishes.

The General Medical Council (GMC) was appealing against a previous ruling that gave Lesley Burke - who suffers from a degenerative brain condition - the right to insist on nutrition during the final stages of his illness...

The appeal judges were told {that]a patient did not have the right to demand any particular form of treatment...

Joyce Robins, co-director of human rights campaign group Patient Concern, said the decision was a disappointment.

She said: "Doctors again have extraordinary power over us, making decisions on how and when we die...."The right to food and water is a right to simple basic sustenance but because they are considered treatment, they can now be taken away.

"This is only round one. We will take this all the way to Strasbourg if we have to."

[Mrs. Don-o]

Food and water should NOT be classified as medical treatment. They MUST be classified as "ordinary care." Otherwise as soon as you can't communicate --- even if you have it in writing that you would want to be fed --- the managed-death people will see that you die quickly (or not-so-quickly) and badly.

[Mrs. Don-o]

ping

[joesnuffy]

When did the patient start dying... doctor

Why as soon as we denied her food and water..the patiend appeared to 'have had it'

Before care begins to eat into profits...move em on out

imo

[Spok]

When the UK's transition to total socialism is complete, everyone will be denied food.

[Lokibob]

Let me see if I have this right:


If you commit murder or blow people up, you go to prison for the rest of your life and they feed you but:


If you get old and sick, they can starve you to death.


sounds like a liberal policy to me.

[CollegeRepublicanNU]

Does this mean I won't get a popsicle after I get my blood drawn??????????? (sarcasm)

Last time I checked dying people are hungry too...

[tutstar]

ping

[nicmarlo]

This isn't limited to the UK...they're doing it right here in the U.S.A.

[delacoert]

doctors do have the power to withdraw food and drink from terminally ill patients - even if it is against their wishes.

Do they have the right to prevent patients from moving to a care facility (home maybe) that would provide food and water?

[k2blader]

I recall the same argument ("food and water is medical treatment") surface during the Terri Schiavo travesty..

[bill1952]

An Interesting way to think about it is to argue that life itself is a fatal disease, and that we all start dying of it from the day that we are born.

Good days, bad days, up curve, down curve, it all goes the same way, and we had better watch it right now because this is what the libs want for you, right now.

Starvation, pure and simple. - Why not just withhold air?

[Stellar Dendrite]

and the sheeple keep taking it and taking it and taking it....

[GloriaJane]

Makes me wonder how many people will die of other wise curable ills because now they well be afraid that if they do seek care, they might be starved to death.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

Stop feeding the prisoners, it only prolongs their suffering ...

[kingu]

The way the ruling reads, if you're terminally ill (expected to expire in less than a year), even if you're able to talk, move your hands, etc, they can still decide to withhold food and water from you. (Not quite sure how this works, can they strap a patient down to prevent them from eating someone else's food?)

In reality, if you're unable to feed yourself, they have no obligation to provide intravenous food and water. A significant thing in a nation with state managed health care. I suppose if you could find a private doctor and pay them, you could continue to survive, but the state wouldn't be obligated, through their doctors, to feed and give you water.

I'm of the mind to believe that the English high court is reasonable in this judgment. Even if you desire life prolonging treatment, there has either got to be a public interest in doing so (IE you're going to recover) or the patient pays for the care.

Folks worried about this over there should push for private health care and choose methods of paying for that care.

I suppose I'll have to don my flame proof suit for pointing out the obvious here. And this is a separate issue than the Shivao case since there is, presumably, no outside source that wants to care for the gentleman when he is no longer able to do so himself.

[kingu]

Stop feeding the prisoners, it only prolongs their suffering ...

Nahh, give death row prisoners some seeds and a few long planters, and a source of water. Their cell lights should be replaced with wide spectrum grow lights. If they grow the seeds right, they live. If they don't, well, no skin off my nose.

[8mmMauser]

Pinged from Terri Dailies

Thanks

8mm

[k2blader]

So you support denying food and water to all ill people who want it but for whatever reason are forced to rely on the taxpayers to pay the bill?

A "yes" or "no" answer should suffice.

[kingu]

So you support denying food and water to all ill people who want it but for whatever reason are forced to rely on the taxpayers to pay the bill? A "yes" or "no" answer should suffice.

Yes. Since I answered your loaded question, you can answer mine. Have you stopped beating up your family members? Yes or no will suffice.

Of course, we could debate the issue instead of resorting to infantile 'gotchas.'