Lenten “Listening”: Last “Rights” for Neurology (must read)

Clueless Christian ^ | 3/11/2006 | Shari deSilva, MD

[sionnsar]

When a class is deemed not worthy of the rights and priveliges of the rest, declared to be less than human, and killed within the confines of the law, a society should remember the Holocaust; how it came to be, why it came to be, and how to prevent another such nightmare.

Click through and read more from her...

[Birmingham Rain]

I misunderstood your post by way of my own stupidity. Sincere apologies to you.

[Iris7]

As the products of the post-war Baby Boom retire, this role will become critical to the fiscal stability of health care financing, and will contribute enormously to the “quality of life of society.”

Calculated this stuff decades ago. There is not remotely enough labor and capital available to provide every elderly Boomer (am 60 myself) with "high grade medical care" (as we know it today) until death. It is simply impossible.

Triage is not just a possibility in medicine but is an everyday medical necessity. People are let die routinely. Medical resources must be allocated to those persons who will die without treatment but who will not die if given treatment. Those who may have "many years of normal life" if medically treated get way higher priority than those who may not. Goes on all the time and is part of the medical routine here in the good old USA. Check it out yourself.

They say in Holland that old folks refuse to go to a doctor because they figure that if they do they will get the final shot. In such cases the doctor will make a house call. Bye, bye, Grandma.

[TheSarce]

MUST READ ping.

[8mmMauser]

Pinged from Terri March Dailies

8mm

[Malacoda]

But Roe v. Wade didn't start us down this slippery slope. Oooooh noooo.

Sickening. The Culture of Death goosesteps on, trampling all in its path.

[hocndoc]

Great article. This is exactly why I chose to become a bioethicist and why I have my blog and website. I'd like to help turn the tide.

[traviskicks]

despite the fact that many children with Down’s syndrome have normal intelligence.
----

? is this true?

[T'wit]

The die for all this was cast with the passage of Medicare legislation under Lyndon Johnson in 1965. This massive government intervention into medicine spelled the end to private, moral doctor-patient care. It marked the beginning of impersonal bureaucratic medicine based on cost rather than on principle.

The right to life cannot survive under socialized medicine. The logic of socialism is relentless in finding reasons to kill off the weaker half of humanity. The elderly, the sick, the disabled, the weak are portrayed as a drain on the common good. They are not contributing their share to the common welfare. They are "useless eaters" who merely consume scarce medical resources and give back little or nothing. Their lives are not worthy, the socialists will say. They have no quality of life. They are defective. They are subhuman. They will not recover. They are better off dead. They must die.

The Nazis stated matters plainly, and exterminated at least 200,000 people for the crime of being sick or handicapped:

This poster reads: "60,000 Reichsmark is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community during his lifetime. Fellow German, that is your money, too. Read 'New People', the monthly magazine of the Bureau for Race Politics of the Nazi Party." [Wikipedia]

Here's a photo of the ceremony that welcomed the same thinking to this country. Former President and Mrs. Truman were present the ceremonies, to the right of LBJ, along with Lady Bird Johnson (obscured, behind LBJ), Hubert Humphrey (and many Democratic congressmen not shown here). Wilbur Mills (D., Ark.), Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and a major player in the legislation, was also present. This was before his famous tipsy adventures with a stripper named Fanne Foxe, "The Argentine Firecracker." (Power corrupts!)

[trisham]

bookmark

[raybbr]

It's almost a Hitler-esque portrait we see.

As the products of the post-war Baby Boom retire, this role will become critical to the fiscal stability of health care financing, and will contribute enormously to the “quality of life of society.” So say the shiny newsletters that come to my home, and many of my colleagues seem enthusiastic about the important new role that will one day likely be thrust upon neurologists everywhere.

This has nothing to do with Hitler. It's capitalism run amok. Weigh the cost vs. the benefit and that's where this comes from.

[Das Outsider]

Think nothing of it, my friend. Welcome to FR.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thanks for all the pings! How many of us realized that it has been a long time since seeing a baby with Down's? I've seen older children and teens with the condition, but I cannot remember the last time I saw a baby. Just damn : (

This doctor is one we cannot afford to lose. I understand why she will have to change professions, though. My aunt had to retire from nursing because of that hospital's policy of everyone being available to assist in an abortion. She just recently retired from accounting.

[Das Outsider]

Denmark neither spawned Marxism, nor Existentialism, nor any other faddish “new idea”.

Kierkegaard was Danish, but the point is taken. Existentialism--and all the other nasty "isms"--flourished on the Continent and in Britain. One would expect a correspondence between those "isms" and their effects on the culture in places like France or Germany. That isn't the case with Denmark.

Excellent recommendation, Sion.

[neverdem]

despite the fact that many children with Down’s syndrome have normal intelligence.
----

? is this true?

From the March of Dimes website:

How serious is the mental retardation?
The degree of mental retardation varies widely, from mild to moderate to severe. Most fall within the mild to moderate range, and studies suggest that, with proper intervention, fewer than 10 percent will have severe mental retardation. There is no way to predict the mental development of a child with Down syndrome based upon physical features. How serious is the mental retardation? The degree of mental retardation varies widely, from mild to moderate to severe. Most fall within the mild to moderate range, and studies suggest that, with proper intervention, fewer than 10 percent will have severe mental retardation. There is no way to predict the mental development of a child with Down syndrome based upon physical features.

Caveat emptor!

[G Larry]

It's a good thing I didn't go the OB route.
The 'medical boards' wouldn't have liked the way I fought back, against their murderous rulings.

[cgk]

Thanks for the ping... :)

[cgk]

MS-related ping!

Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to, or removed from, the Multiple Sclerosis ping list...

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

I have a precious niece with Downs. Please, don't anyone ever say it would have been better if she had not been born. She is an extreme blessing. I would not say she had average intelligence but she is above average in love and cheerfulness.

I also have a precious, precious grandson who has autism. Again, the very thought that ANYONE would EVER suggest he should have been aborted brings alternating thoughts of hate and sorrow for those alleging such a thing. God help all of them.