Comment

ABC News vs. the Euthanasia Death Panels

176
SixDegrees8/15/2009 4:53:10 pm PDT

re: #50 Charles

Criticize the health care bill because it does nothing about tort reform, or because it’s been watered down by demands from Big Pharma, but this “death panel” stuff gives me an enormous headache.

This is stupid, and wrong, and if you want to participate in it, you’re not going to get any support from me.

Quite true. The whole “end of life counseling,” or whatever it was called, was an attempt to keep horrendous tragedies like the Schiavo case from happening. Every adult, from 18 onward, ought to be given an overview of what’s required to ensure that things work out the way you want them to should you die, or find yourself incapacitated and unable to direct your own care. There are millions of people who have no will, no written power of attorney, no medical power of attorney, no record of what their wishes are, and on and on, and providing an overview and a reminder to take personal responsibility for putting your affairs in order, and to review your arrangements every few years, isn’t a bad idea at all. In fact, it’s a good one.

Unfortunately, the bill was poorly written, and placed too much responsibility for provision of such counseling in government hands and not enough in the hands of citizens; and the response to the overblown, hysterical criticisms was just as poorly organized, as was the section’s withdrawal. A simple recommendation to hand out up to date brochures containing an overview of the issues, and urging patients to contact an attorney to help with organizing theses matters, is all that is needed.

So in the years to come, we can look forward to thousands upon thousands of people suffering through years of a life they would prefer to end if they had the ability to do so; of spouses unable to carry out their partner’s requests; of family wealth destroyed by endless legal challenges by parties with little or no direct interest in the person involved, but intent on promoting their own political and religious agenda through others helpless to respond. And along the way, we’ll see a few more hapless individuals turned into national fodder for Congressional zealots and vilified from the bully pulpit simply because of their inaction and inattention to simple but important matters that everyone ought to know about, and far to many are ignorant of.