[iltos]

Originally Posted by LANMaster

Robert Reich Admits: Democrats *So* Want to Pull The Plug on Grandma

i'm sure the politics about this will continue to be divisive -it's unfortunate that people in reich's position don't have the wherewithall to address this difficult issue with something approaching maturity -i'm not even conservative in most ways, but find this whole snippit insensitve and demeaning.
still...i, for one, would have preferred my dad died months before his passing.....and while that wasn't my choice to make, i don't want to be sustained for a few months, just because it's possible.

i do agree that it's not the government's business to decide....nor the medical profession's...but i've yet to see anything in this kind rhetoric that is more substantial that personality assault and innuendo....unless its changed dramatically, my last reading of the bill wrt to "old people" was about education: helping families to understand and identify their choices and insisting that the medical profession address what can only be called its "death business"....which i believe exists as much because of the way the current health care system is set up, as because of new medical technology.

it's a tough issue, tho, anyway you look at it.

[wacor]

My dad had pancreatic cancer which spread to the liver. He was operated on as they thought it only was in the pancreas. He decided to pass on any chemo or radiation. He was 85 years old. That was his choice and he lasted little over a couple months. Was the picture of health up til then.

A year ago a very good friends wife got cancer in the area of the pancreas in a bile duct. She went thru a whipple surgery which is where they take out parts of the pancreas, kindneys, and stomach if I remember right. Then went thru a battery of radiation for a while and on chemo ever since. Last week they determined the cancer was back in the pancreas. One option was hospice and expect to die in one to three months. The other option was to continue on with a new chemo along with pills. The pills alone cost $3k a month

It was her option to fight. I seriously think if Obamacare passes she would not have that option. They will HAVE to ration to some degree. There simply is no way around it if there is to be even a tiny bit of control of the costs.

[Stoner]

My father died at the age of 76 with cancer so advanced there was nothing to be done but pain control. He lived only several weeks after being diagnosed.

My mother, at the age of 94 was admitted into emergency with advanced pneumonia and a heart condition.
She is still alive 2 years later, her heart condition under control and enjoys life as much today as before her bout with pneumonia.

It is impossible to see the future and determine how all elderly persons will respond to medical treatments.
A society that judges the worthiness of life by way of a panel of judges isn't worth it's own survival, imo.
These are decisions for the individual, family and doctors.......not a panel of strangers representing the government.

[LANMaster]

Well put, Jack