Posted on 10/12/2009 12:45:28 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
A grandfather who beat cancer was wrongly told the disease had returned and left to die at a hospice which pioneered a controversial 'death pathway'.
Doctors said there was nothing more they could do for 76-year-old Jack Jones, and his family claim he was denied food, water and medication except painkillers. He died within two weeks.
But tests after his death found that his cancer had not come back, and he was in fact suffering from pneumonia brought on by a chest infection.
To his family's horror, they were told he could have recovered if he'd been given the correct treatment.
Today, after being given an £18,000 pay-out over her ordeal, his widow Pat branded his treatment 'barbaric' and accused the doctors of manslaughter.
Mr Jones was being cared at a hospice which was central to the contentious Liverpool Care Pathway under which dying patients have their life support taken away, although the hospice claims it wasn't officially applied in his case.
The scheme is now used by hundreds of hospitals and care homes, and is followed in as many as 20,000 deaths a year.
Supporters say it brings dignity to a patient's final hours, but critics fear that some are placed into it incorrectly.
The retired bricklayer was diagnosed with stomach cancer in May 2005. After undergoing chemotherapy, he had his stomach removed by surgeons at Royal Liverpool Hospital that September.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Most people would be dead sooner than that, with no water.
If you deny a patient food and water, its murder. Call it what you want to, its murder.
And its something I'm seeing more and more. People are pretending for the sake of their consciences that they are letting a disease take its natural course, when in fact they have rigged the game so it has one outcome and soon.
If you are going to cut off someone's food and water, you may as well put a pillow over his head and get it done.
But that is not what all hospice care is about. If a person is terminally ill, has a very poor prognosis, and wishes to decline futile and burdensome treatments (such as ventilator, chemo, surgery, etc.) the patient has every right to do so, opting instead for the basics of care: food, water, cleanliness/hygiene, pain management, comfort care --- all this and antibiotics, too, if it's something like pneumonia which can be successully treated (as contrasted with, say, an untreatable metastatized cancer.)
We had a very good experience of palliative care when my father was in his dying days. We got in-home hospice care with me a principal care-giver, supported by truly competent, attentive, and kind-hearted CNA's from the regional medical center.
No high-tech but at the same time no pushing the old guy toward the exit: pain-free, natural decline, nutritious shakes and fluids which I personally squirted into his mouth with a big needle-less syringe, supported by care and prayer and Fudge Ripple Ice Cream til the final Amen.
No, YOU need to get out more.
You have no earthly idea of the pure, unadulterated evil which is sitting right around the corner from you, waiting patiently for the just the right opportunity to devour you.
He is a troll!!!
Hospice nurses are the ‘devil himself.’
My. My. And thanks for stopping by to post that heinous remark. Say hi to the guys and gals at DOJ!
Could it be kiddies...a Holderite, here, spewing ‘ick’ since waaaay back on September 23, 2009???
Hmmm.
You do not know what you are talking about. Hospice nurses and doctors have some of the toughest duty there is. Are all of them good at what they do? NO. Are all of them death mongers awiting for the body to turn cold? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Hospice has its purpose and place. This case is the example of what should never happen
I have seen the kind of hospice care you are talking about. They come in, help with the very difficult tasks that come when someone is dying.
If you are caring for a loved one and the end is near, you’ll appreciate some help in those last days.
Thats different from the other kind of hospice help, in which the game is rigged, they cut off all hydration, and cut the time down to days or hours.
The case that started this thread is exactly that. The kind of hospice you’re talking about is a blessing. The kind that started this thread, however well intentioned it might be in some cases, its wrong.
Very few of us get to choose the circumstances of our deaths. The way you described taking care of your father, that would be high on my list if I were given a choice. I’m sure it helped you in the grieving process, to know he’d gotten the best care possible.
A troll??? From DOJ???
Timing is everything :)
Jeez...When someone is terminally ill and in the last few months of life - having Hospice care available is a God send. My brother died at home - with family present and Hospice care in place.. (though only for a few days). Nobody starved him, he was comfortable even though he couldn’t breathe and died in my mothers arms. My mother also died at home, with family as primary care and hospice available when it got crazy. I didn’t care for every single hospice nurse or nurse aide that came through her door, but they certainly didn’t administer drugs to my mother without my knowledge. They were respectful of her and our family. From diagnosis to death it took 3 months. My mom died from brain cancer and was kept as comfortable as possible until SHE stopped accepting food and water. Then she went into coma and died 8 days later. Hospice provided Predizone to control swelling, adavan for anxiety and morphine towards the end when she was uncomfortable. Hospice also provided the family with counseling to help us cope with the process and it was all based on religion and crossing over. When she finally stopped breathing the hospice nurse cleaned her up for us, woke us up to tell us she’d passed and called the Medical examiner and funeral home so we didn’t have to. Hospice is end of life care. If you agree to enter hospice in the US, it means you’ve opted out of further care. It was never designed for those able to recover or those who want to scour the earth for treatment. Nobody in the US is forced into Hospice. I know several very kind and religious hospice care volunteers and here in the US - and I may volunteer myself to help others going through end of life if I ever get the chance to stop working full time.
The cat fight of the grand sweeping generalities. Yawn. Nozzie and Lurker deserve each other.
The British model is totally off the rails. Cost control seems to be the biggest priority, much higher than patient care. I think you will find the same priority in the US model.
Personally, I don't think it is possible to impose a complete, federally administered, universal health care system for a nation of 300 million plus that is riddled with illegals and parasites. It will become a complete train wreck.
I agree. - They are death culture devices to destroy life.
"To look in the eyes of a Hospice nurse is to look in the eyes of Satan himself."
Wrong. - Narrow your brush! - There are many that only work to give comfort to those condemned to the hospice by ignorant or uncaring doctors and relatives.
No socialized care system in the world has within an order of magnitude as many patients as the one being envisioned for the USA. The Canadian one is the biggest and that would be equaled by California alone. Message to First Dude: don’t bogart that Hopium!
This is where Obamacare leads us.
Obamacare.
Well, the UK system is bigger and it includes dental and eye care, I think. But, on the whole, I agree with you.
No. Some end of life scenarios are so trully horrific that the participation of hospice is the only loving and humane course of treatment. My mother died of a glioblastoma; she was in vegetive state; having grand mal seizures. Hospice kept her hydrated; medicated and dignified. Cancer was the destroyer of her life...not the care she received.
If you check his posting history you will see that you are way off.
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