Interesting stuff, Johannes. But what is your position? Maybe it helps some
folks to learn that after staying in a foreign country for 21 years they should
have bothered to learn the language?
On the other hand we might argue that since there is such a lot of money in
Germany (albeit not in the right hands) this country should offer medical help
without thinking about the costs. If however the costs are an important argument
the point that over 50% of those who don't know the language sufficiently die
soon after the transplantation seems to be important. The article does not say
what has happened to the ones who had transplantation in the US and did not
speak English. If it was proved that the argument of the hospital is not true
the discussion ought to begin anew. Up to that point however I would reject the
racism-'argument' (not that racism isn't widespread in German society, but it is
also used as a cheap argument by by a certain number of foreigners who are
treated like they are because of their very personal faults), let alone the
'Nazi'-accusation. We should not let devaluate the notion of 'racism' or
'enemity towards foreigners'.
One final note on the language-question: urging immigrants here to learn
the language of the majority-population does not mean to force 'integration'
upon them and to make them 'Germans' (in the 'ethnic' sense). As a (hopefully)
revolutionary I want to struggle with the turcophone part of the working-class
in Germany 'omuz omuza' (shoulder by shoulder) and build the revolutionary party
with Turkish, Greek, Kurdish, etc. comrades, but experience shows that this is
very difficult if you don't speak a common language. Of courese nobody can
expect that German revolutionaries learn all the languages of their foreign
comrades. So urging the immigrants to learn German has nothing today with any
cultural-chauvinism.
A.Holberg
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Johannes Schneider schrieb:
> >From the AP wire service:
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000822/wl/germany_transplant_denied_1.html
>
> Women Denied Heart Transplant
>
> By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
>
> BERLIN (AP) - A German hospital drew harsh criticism Tuesday for admitting
> it denied a heart transplant to a Turkish resident because she didn't speak
> German.
>
> The Heart and Diabetes Center of North Rhine-Westphalia said denying the
> transplant for 56-year-old Fatma Elaldi was standard procedure when a
> patient is unable to understand a doctor's instructions or communicate with
> hospital staff after the complicated surgery.
>
> Still, the issue touches a nerve in Germany, coping with a wave of
> anti-foreigner violence and always sensitive about how it deals with its 2
> million Turks, the largest minority group in the country.
>
> The clinic's decision was criticized by other medical groups in Germany and
> government officials, as well as Turkish community groups.
>
> ``The arguments of the clinic don't convince me,'' said Safter Cinar, a
> board member of the Turkish Council of Berlin and Brandenburg. ``I don't
> want to say racist, but it's a problematic thing. Medicine has the
> obligation to care for the health of the people and this cannot depend on
> German knowledge.''
>
> Elaldi, who has lived in the western city of Neuwied for 21 years, has
> suffered heart trouble since birth and received a pacemaker last year. At
> the time, doctors told her she wouldn't be able to survive long without a
> new heart. After five days of examination at the clinic this year,
> specialists planned to place her on the transplant waiting list.
>
> But in February she was notified by letter that she wasn't a candidate,
> citing her ``lack of knowledge of the language'' as one of the main reasons.
>
> Her daughter, Bektas, who speaks German and had offered to serve as a
> translator, called the decision ``insanity.''
>
> Elaldi eventually was placed on a waiting list for a transplant at a
> Muenster hospital, according to Dr. Yasar Bilgin, chairman of the
> Turkish-German Medical Foundation. He also said language knowledge wasn't a
> reason to deny a transplant - citing German patients who go to the United
> States for operations without speaking English.
>
> A spokeswoman for the medical center in the town of Bad Oeynhausen, Petra
> Mellwig, stood by the decision Tuesday - saying the hospital has found that
> 50 percent of its patients without sufficient language knowledge die soon
> after transplants. She said two other hospitals in Germany also refused to
> operate on her.
>
> Mellwig stressed the doctors' decision had nothing to do with Elaldi being a
> foreigner. She said drug or alcohol addicts are also turned down as
> transplant candidates for the few available organs because they are seen as
> risk cases in complying with medical instructions.
>
> She said the offer from Elaldi's daughter to translate wasn't enough. ``Are
> they there 24 hours a day caring for the patient?'' she asked.
>
> But the hospital later said that, in light of the ``public discussion,'' it
> would review its criteria to see whether ``possibilities can be found in
> similar cases that would lead to an improvement in the chances of success.''
>
> About 500 hearts are available each year for transplants in Germany, but the
> demand is for more than twice that. About 20 percent of patients on waiting
> lists die before they are able to receive the transplant.
>
> The health minister in North Rhine-Westphalia, Birgit Fischer, called Monday
> on the clinic to seek more practical solutions for the problem rather than
> denying operations - such as using relatives to translate or
> Turkish-speaking doctors.
>
> ``Every person has the right to adequate medical care. And we as doctors
> have the duty to help,'' Alfred Moehrle, president of the Hesse state
> doctors' association, said Tuesday.
>
>
>
>
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