8mm
Posted on 02/24/2008 2:02:35 PM PST by wagglebee
AN astonishing survey of medics for their in-house Doctor magazine has revealed they believe those suffering from what they see as self-inflicted diseases, like smokers, drinkers and the obese, should not receive free treatment. Have they got a point? PHIL DOHERTY reports . . .
WHEN football legend George Best underwent a liver swap operation because of years of drinking it is said to have led to a fall in those signing up to donor cards.
The argument was he brought it on himself and the organ should have been given to a more deserving cause. That the Manchester United legend, pictured below right, was an alcoholic and thus suffering from a disease cut little ice.
After his death in November 2005 some doctors demanded that no alcoholics receive transplant organs.
Thanks to the poll in Doctor Magazine, this argument has gone one step further, calling for the obese, smokers, heavy drinkers, the elderly, infertile couples and women seeking abortions all to be banned from receiving free medical treatment.
With one in 10 hospitals already denying some surgery to obese and smokers is it time to call an end to universal healthcare for all?
Dr Tony Calland, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Ethics Committee, believes someone’s age or lifestyle choices should have no impact on their eligibility for medical treatment.
He said: “It is outrageous to suggest because someone is old they would not have a right to be considered for treatment. The BMA believes decisions about NHS treatment should be based on clinical issues.
“For example, if someone’s weight makes an operation too risky then this would need to be discussed with the patient and perhaps they would be advised to lose weight before surgery could safely go ahead.
“Equally, if a patient’s age made them too frail to survive surgery, a decision may need to be taken to consider alternative treatment. These are clinical decisions based on individual circumstance and not blanket bans.”
According to North East’s Strategic Health Authority treating alcoholism in the region annually costs around £100m.
The number of clinically obese has more than doubled from 283 in 2003/04 to 666 in 2006/07 costing the region’s NHS Trusts at least £1m.
The survey of 870 medics by Doctor magazine found one in three medics believe old people should be denied treatment, half thought smokers should be banned from heart bypasses, and a quarter that the obese should not get hip replacements.
A huge 94 per cent said alcoholics should not be allowed liver transplants.
Vanessa Bourne, spokeswoman for the Patients’ Association, said: “There may be good clinical reasons why a particular treatment will or will not work on an individual patient.
“But there is a world of difference between that and a blanket ban on getting care because you do not do as you are told.”
One in five doctors in the survey said women seeking abortions should pay.
The Marie Stropes international charity, the biggest provider of abortions in the UK outside the NHS, said such a policy would see poor women seeking back street abortions.
Spokesman Tony Kerridge said: “As is often the case, the rich and the middle classes would find the financial resources to access abortion services privately, while the poor would be placed at great risk.
“There would be a return to cheap, unsafe, back-street abortions and incidences of women attempting to self abort and see a sharp rise in maternal deaths and also serious injuries. Treating these injuries would probably place a greater burden on the national health system than providing safe abortion services ever will.”
Help the Aged believes there can never be any justification for denying medical treatment on the grounds of age.
Spokesman Paul Cann said: “Not only is such a suggestion morally abhorrent and ageist, it runs counter to every founding principle of the NHS itself. Age is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ it is a fact of life. Older people have paid taxes through their lives, have worked and made contributions towards the health system on which they should expect to rely.”
PING!
John Stossel said that when the US medical establishment officially used that as the last word on weight, about 3,000,000 Americans became overweight overnight.
If you smoke, ever little sniffle you get is cause you smoked.
If 2 men aged 55 keel over from a heart attack and one of them smoked, trust me, everyone will say the smoker had the heart attack because he smoked.
“When the government completely controls the health care system and they deny someone treatments that are proven to be effective, they are culpable in that person’s death. And that is a pro-life issue.”
Excellent point. Thanks.
Rationing happens now with ‘health insurance’ that many cannot afford. Forget the uninsured, look at the ‘underinsured’ ... people who have insurance but policies that will not cover major illness or very little of it. That’s rationing as well.
And watch for coverages to be lowered and lowered as the population ages.
Rationing in health care seems to be a given no matter which system is chosen.
All together... “LIFE BOAT”
Steve Taylor LifeBoat music video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JaG2-MGtCVE&feature=related
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