Thread by me.
There's been very little attention paid to an interview President Obama did with the New York Times the day of his major speech at Georgetown University on April 14. I was especially interested in the section of the interview dealing with health care, and to learn of the President's perceptions of end-of-life issues. It's not pretty. Read on.
For starters, President Obama opined:
I have always said, though, that we should not overstate the degree to which consumers rather than doctors are going to be driving treatment, because . . . when it comes to medical care; I know how to ask good questions of my doctor. But ultimately, he's the guy with the medical degree. So, if he tells me, You know what, you've got such-and-such and you need to take such-and-such, I don't go around arguing with him or go online to see if I can find a better opinion than his.
Well, yes and no.
But the President's slant is immediately concerning, because there's a fine line between medical expertise and Doctor Power. What if the doctor says, "Well, you've got two weeks to live, and your quality of life is very poor, and all the expensive care we can give you will not help a bit, but assisted suicide is legal, quick, and very inexpensive?' Should I then accept this pronouncement because he's "the guy with the medical degree?"
If you think I'm stretching things a bit, it's because of what came next from the President:
And part of what I think government can do effectively is to be an honest broker in assessing and evaluating treatment options. And certainly that's true when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid, where the taxpayers are footing the bill and we have an obligation to get those costs under control. And right now we're footing the bill for a lot of things that don't make people healthier.
Not too hard to see the spin here. Now we'll get the government saying, "OK, seeing that we pay for your medical care, we're going to decide what care you get and what care you can't have."
And, more darkly, the specter of futile care emerges, because what the President was saying was, "If we're paying for stuff that doesn't make you healthier, we need to reconsider whether we want to pay for this treatment."
Note the phrase is "to make you healthier" - not to alleviate your symptoms, or provide you with comfort care because you're never going to get healthier.
Simple: If treatment makes you healthy again, you get it. If it can't, you can't have it, because we need it for people who can get healthy again. . .
Thread by me.
County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Thursday the indictment of four people in connection with the alleged assisted suicide death of a Phoenix woman.
The indictments were handed down from a grand jury on Tuesday.
The four defendants are part of a group called Final Exit Network that according to their website, "serves people who are suffering from an intolerable condition."
Frank Langsner of Scottsdale and Wye Hale-Rowe of Colorado, were indicted on charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit manslaughter.
Also indicted for Conspiracy to commit manslaughter were Roberta Massey of New Jersey and Dr. Larry Egbert of Baltimore.
According to Thomas, Jana Van Voorhis was found dead in her home on April 15, 2007.
An investigation determined she had died by suicide accomplished through helium inhalation. Investigators said Van Voorhis was not terminally ill but rather suffered from mental illness and depression. . .
Thanks for the ping!