Sad sad times for jolly ol’ England. A number of doctors have said that fat people, smokers and old people should be barred from receiving care because they’re fat old smokers. So essentially if you’re perfectly healthy you can get treatment but if you’re in need of medical attention then you don’t qualify.
Imagine the scenario of cancer patients trying to lose weight so they can get treatment. But don’t call it a death panel.
I know right now in America everyone’s denying the existence of death panels in President Obama’s healthcare plan but certainly this would seem to be a death panel which decides who gets treatment and who gets death in England’s socialized healthcare model. But like the current occupants of the White House, I’m sure they wouldn’t want it to be called a death panel but it is what it is.
I know that all you gloomy Gusses are seeing this as all darkness. But on the other hand, these death panels have a bright side that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Some doctors are saying that the country is so broke due to having socialized medicine that they also might not even be able to afford one of the most popular medical procedures – abortion.
They’re so broke, the poor things can’t even afford to kill their own children? What a shame. The UK Telegraph reports:
Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.
Fertility treatment and “social” abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.
The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors as “outĀrageous” and “disgraceful”.
About one in 10 hospitals already deny some surgery to obese patients and smokers, with restrictions most common in hospitals battling debt.
Managers defend the policies because of the higher risk of complications on the operating table for unfit patients. But critics believe that patients are being denied care simply to save money.
In all seriousness, how far has western civilization sunk when England is considering not treating fat people, smokers, or old people before it even considers not paying to have their own children killed?
August 17, 2009 at 2:43 am
Well surprise surprise… "healthcare" will mean care only for the healthy?
Could it be said that the rest of the unfortunate will get deathcare?
And is there anything to stop us from seeing a new czar named for an Equal Healthcare Opportunity Commission to dole out care for some at a higher rate to make up for historically underprovided healthcare?
Oh, the great wonder of all things hopenchange. So many possibilities….
PS – The etymology of 'czar' is interesting … 'czar' was the name taken by the Russian rulers who were heirs to the culture that fell at the end of the Byzantine Empire, itself the 2nd heir to the fallen Roman Empire. The boast was to set up Russia as the "Third Rome" by uniting church and state under a new Ceasar, er, uh, 'czar' in Russian.
Nowdays in our capital city of fallen capitalism we have many more Czars in the Hopenchange Empire, all state and no church. And like the first Rome, there's not a lot of holy in this one either.
August 17, 2009 at 10:22 am
From what I've seen, it isn't that the treatment is denied completely, but delayed until the person cuts down on smoking or loses weight. This is because the operation may not be successful otherwise. The same thing happens in the US, as some surgeons refuse to perform an operation if a person is obese (especially with things like back surgery).
August 17, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Saw a woman on FOX today whose father with dementia had a kidney infection. He was treated with IV antibiotics in hospital till his temp dropped to 1/10 of a degree under the Medicare limit for hospitalization. He was sent home before he was healthy and died. And that's in the US. Medicare already is a death panel.
August 17, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I have my suspicions about Medicare and the role it played in my own grandma's death. She had colon cancer and a colostomy around the age of 75 and was on Medicare. That's well and good- I'm glad she got the treatment. She was screened for 2 years after that and it looked like things were going well for her.
However, when she was nearing 80, still on Medicare, and complaining of an increase in pain in her internal cavities, no MRI's or other checks were performed. My grandpa repeatedly requested more work to be done for her, but it was all denied. Instead, they increased her pain meds until she finally died two years later at 80 years of age.
Could she have survived another surgery or chemo? Who knows? Would further treatment have prolonged her life? I can't say. All I do know is that increasing pain medicine in someone you do know to have cancer instead of doing at least an MRI or other internal test is offering suicide and not treatment.
Medicare for everyone… sign me up!
Oh, and just because our President is backing off on the health care issue right now does not mean that it will go away. He's waiting for the tempers to cool and he'll try again to pass it once things have simmered down a bit.
August 18, 2009 at 12:36 am
You know, this should be a real wake up call to America, as 70% of our population is obese. Yikes!
That and 100% of our population survived the massacre of abortion…
Hmmm….
August 18, 2009 at 6:21 am
Depending on how they define "over weight" it can be a real horrific thing– the US's way of defining it is known to be hugely inaccurate, and was developed as part of that old fad to figure out what the "average" person was.
I figure IVF will have medical funding cut about the same time sleeping around does– both are known health risks (IVF babies are AT LEAST 50% more likely to have health issues– and that's after they pick the healthiest to survive to birth….) but both are social no-can-touch.
August 19, 2009 at 2:40 am
Sorry, a survey of doctors is not NHS policy
August 19, 2009 at 6:07 am
How about "our system is imploding" from the incoming CMA prez?
August 20, 2009 at 12:56 am
What about it?
The reason "socialized" medicine was implemented was to cut healthcare costs and they have. If they hadn't switched, they'd be in far worse shape today.
August 20, 2009 at 1:50 am
Death usually is very cheap.
For that matter, dying of heart disease is a lot cheaper than getting a pacemaker.
August 20, 2009 at 2:20 am
Following up on FoxFier's comment- why not add "the promiscuous" to the list?