On Aug 17, 2009, at 10:43 PM, Arden Currie wrote: > > On Aug 17, 2009, at 11:26 AM, Chris Gehlker wrote: > >> It's really interesting to read the whole thing. Sarah argues that >> doctors won't pressure patients to off themselves unless they are >> paid >> for the consultation. Sarah must think doctors are really stupid. >> They >> will give up the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they could >> make by keeping people in a vegetative state for years in exchange >> for >> a one time fee. > > That is so much bullshit. In reality doctors repair hips and knees on > 90 year olds with dementia, cancer and a host of life ending maladies > to make a buck. All paid for by Medicare.
I can personalize this for you. My father has dementia. We kept him with us for almost 7 years and just recently moved him to a nursing home. The geriatric doctor prescribed everything from cholesterol lowering medication to 'occupational therapy' We had to go in (good thing we have full power of attorney, both medical and personal) and tell them directly (and in writing) that he doesn't get more than an aspirin without our approval and that if the doctor orders anything else without our approval and they do it, they are paying for it and the doctor is to be considered fired on the spot. Sounds harsh right? Well I 'know' what his wishes are and he would never have wanted to be in this state. I actually love the guy and if he were mentally *here* I'd do anything to prolong his life. The fact is, is that my father is gone, just the shell remains. What is the motivation of the doctor? He argues that he is required to take all preventive and rehabilitate measures unless ordered not to by the patient or person with responsibility. (I think that's bull crap, but whatever..) What that really means is that I suspect a lot of people are taking what the doctor does at face value (their not paying right?) and just letting it go. Second example. My mother in law. Severe dementia as well. Her doctor wanted to order a mammogram. WTF? Breast cancer is *not* going to kill her, but we had to ask my father in law WHY he would allow such a thing. He looked at it as "the doctor recommended it, so it must be a good idea. Vicky actually had to asked him, "what difference would it make?" before he realized that there was no point. > It's where the majority of > Medicare money is spent. It's so good to have medical decisions made > by profiteers. I actually agree in the situation where the patient cannot communicate their wishes. It's why advanced directives and leaving a family member in charge of carrying out your desires,when you can no longer make the decisions, is so important. $Diety only knows how much money they would have made off of my father's illness, if we hadn't stepped in. And to what benefit to him? None. I don't know that I want the government making those decisions either, but oversight and reform is truly needed. Chuck _______________________________________________ OSX-Nutters mailing list | [email protected] http://lists.tit-wank.com/mailman/listinfo/osx-nutters List hosted at http://cat5.org/
