Posted on 05/23/2010 10:11:46 AM PDT by wagglebee
Revisionist history has been released to an impressionable public in the HBO Movie “You Don’t Know Jack.” Contrary to Al Pacino’s portrayal of Jack Kevorkian that makes him the compassionate defender of patients’ rights, physician-assisted suicide enters a world of potential mixed motives and moral chaos.
By any standard, assisted suicide (or active euthanasia) is quite different from simply allowing nature to take its unimpeded course. It is popularly called “mercy killing.” Both morally and practically, this is easily distinguishable from simply permitting the death of a hopelessly ill woman or man (i.e., passive euthanasia). It should be opposed by ethically sensitive people.
Physician-assisted suicide is in direct conflict with our tradition of upholding the sanctity of human life. Whether preserved in the Ten Commandments or the Hippocratic Oath, that tradition says we are to affirm, nurture and give aid to people in pain.
For active euthanasia and assisted suicide will communicate the message that persons who are terminally ill have a duty to get out of the way of the living.
For example, suppose a cancer patient for whom treatment has been ineffective tells his or her family, “I know I’m a terrible burden to you, and I wonder if I shouldn’t just end my own life!”
I can imagine two responses.
“What do you mean!” says one family. “You are central to our lives. We love you, and you could never be a burden to us!” That answer communicates a relationship that inspires a will to live for the patient.
“Perhaps we should think about that,” replies another family member. “You might suffer toward the end, and we’re not really rich enough to hire nurses so you can be cared for while we stay at our jobs.” With such openness to the idea of dying, what feelings are likely to go through the mind of that patient?
Studies show that treatment for depression moves the vast majority of sufferers to think of active euthanasia as unacceptable for themselves. The alternative to making suicide easier and more acceptable is effective palliative care — which includes treatment for depression as well as degenerative disease or injury — and loving concern from family and friends.
In the Netherlands, where active euthanasia by medical personnel has been practiced for some time now, the issue quickly ceased to be assistance to persons requesting it and initiated debates over euthanizing some who had not.
“I don’t care about the law,” Kevorkian once said. “I have never cared about anything but the welfare of the patient in front of me.” What a strange claim from a pathologist who has no experience in the clinical treatment of patients! But most of us do care about the law. We care about law grounded in serious ethical reflection that affirms human worth in ways that affirm people rather than eliminate them when they need us most. Our call is not to become gentle executioners. Instead, it is to provide effective and morally responsible care to the suffering.
Rubel Shelly is president of Rochester College and professor of philosophy and religion at the college.
Actually, YOU were the one who said it was all about money.
I said right from the beginning: "I don’t care which of the patients you are, you would both get the same level of care from me regardless of what color you are, how much money you made in your life, which god you worshipped or didn’t worship, or which political party you were in, whether you had insurance or whether you were receiving care on the taxpayers dime or whether you were a US citizen or not because all life is equally sacred, right?" post #44
Yes, and I remarked that I would prefer the "incompetent" nurse who wanted me to live.
Now I'm just asking a simple question and yet I can't seam to get any kind of answer. Shouldn't tax payers be paying for everyone's healthcare so nobody dies, so we don't fall into a "culture of death"?
I believe that healthcare should be entirely private. But this thread is about euthanasia, not taxpayer-funded healthcare.
this is fully in keeping with the topic which is the culture of death. Should tax payers pay for the healthcare of illegal aliens?
No, it isn’t.
It’s no different than withholding dialysis or a vent, no different at all.
If you think that withholding basic food and water is no different than withholding dialysis or a vent, then you have no grasp of basic medical ethics and we therefore have no common ground for debate or discussion.
Food and water are basic human rights, not medical interventions that can be arbitrarily withheld simply because we want to hasten the death of a patient.
Debate withholding dialysis or a vent separately from withdrwaing food and water. Food and water can only be morally withheld if the patient is physiologically unable to assimilate them.
When dehydration becomes the promiximate cause of death in a patient who is able to assimilate it, that is simply murder. Its not a withdrawal of a medical treatment, it is active euthanasia.
yes it is.
Did you read the article, by any chance?
Show me where I have EVER said such a thing troll.
But this thread is about euthanasia Now you're the one redefining the argument. this thread is about the "culture of death" in america. that makes my question perfectly poignant.
Troll, I haven't redefined anything.
right, because I want patients to die. I'm a monster that way you see. you *&#%$%g *$$&#!e.
Actually, YOU are the one who said that it was all about money and choice. And why use symbols, tell me what you really think of me, it would be far less profane than the agenda you are advancing.
Nice.
Clean up your postings if you want them to stay up.
Ventilator shortage is warning of potential crisis
By WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune Last update: March 14, 2008 - 9:33 AM
Last week, so many ventilators were in use in Minnesota hospital intensive care units that many hospitals rented extras and several hospitals shifted patients with respiratory problems elsewhere for care.
"Was it a crisis? No, but it got a little too close for comfort," said Dr. John Hick of Hennepin County Medical Center and medical director for an emergency-preparedness compact among the 29 metro hospitals.
Actually I don't disagree with that. Not at all. but I'm the evil leftist culture of death monster here so fire away anyways.
So, it wasn’t actually a crisis, but the media spun it that way.
The medical director admits it wasn’t a crisis.
State officials do not track ventilator use but probably will begin to do that, said Minnesota Health Department spokesman John Stieger. But a department survey on Tuesday found that 83 percent of the 950 beds in hospital ICUs were in use, compared with 85 percent last week. Hospital officials say ICUs usually are about 80 percent full.So, no one actually died, but the cushion of extra ventilators was all but gone, and at some hospitals was gone. The available rental stock was gone. Close enough to a crisis that we can actually accept it as a viable premise. Or is your belief that there's always enough of everything for everyone and no hard decisions ever have to be made?Some health planners such as Hick have warned for several years that with ICUs running near capacity, a major disaster or flu outbreak could "tip us over the balance and people would die for lack of ventilators."
Hick has urged state officials to stockpile ventilators, "but in a year when we're cutting health care spending, buying ventilators at $50,000 each in case of emergency is kind of a hard sell. (The state has 37 portable ventilators placed around the state for training, but available for emergencies.)
Turning away patients
At Abbott Northwestern Hospital, "our two ICUs -- 55 beds -- were totally full last week, and for a couple days we couldn't take any more critically ill patients," said Dr. Kevin Graham, a cardiologist and president of the hospital's Minneapolis Heart Institute. "We had at least one patient headed our way who we diverted to another hospital."
"I was wearing a pager night and day because we were right at the edge," he said. "I've been doing this for 20 years, and last week the situation was extraordinary."
At the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, "we were close enough to capacity that we rented four ventilators ... to make sure we had enough capacity in case we had a rush of admissions," said Curt Buck, director of respiratory care services. "We were told by the rental companies that we took the last four they had."
It was the first time in more than a year that Mayo's more than 100 ventilators were not adequate, Buck said. "And this is not usually our busy season. Not as many people from outside the region come here for surgery in the winter."
Her column is a good read for those who have not given this problem much thought or are unaware of it. She recommends Liberty Counsel at lc.org for those whose loved one is being denied food and water or other basic necessities of life.
Did you happen to notice the cost of the ventilators? They are $50,000, hardly the lavish cost that the culture of death would have us believe.
Why not ration police? I would think that the average cop is making $50K a year and I’d bet that a police car costs about $50K once everything is done to it and all of the equipment is added.
Sure did.
Yes I read it. The media tried to create a crisis out of something that actually wasn’t.
But how will that advance the issue of assisted suicide?
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