Anyone who’s had a loved one seriously ill in the hospital can tell you that if the medical community doesn’t see a good prognosis they will often do everything they can to hasten death.
When my father had a heart attack many years ago now the doctors and nurses at the Catholic hospital did everything they could to kill him. I’m not speaking hyperbolically. They continually gave him morphine every time we stepped out of the room despite our orders against doing so.
Doctors and nurses told us that we were “being cruel” by keeping him alive. By keeping him alive they meant not killing him with an overdose or worse yet having him fed. Seriously. And that was a Catholic hospital.
We ended up having one of us constantly stay in his hospital room to ensure that nobody tried to kill him. So this story came as no shock to me:
The Daily Mail reports:
A high proportion of deaths classed as euthanasia in Belgium involved patients who did not ask for their lives to be ended, a study found.
More than 100 nurses admitted to researchers that they had taken part in ‘terminations without request or consent’.
Although euthanasia is legal in Belgium, it is governed by strict rules which state it should be carried out only by a doctor and with the patient’s permission. The disturbing revelation – which shows that nurses regularly go well beyond their legal role – raises fears that were assisted suicides allowed in Britain, they could never be properly regulated.
Van Helsing of Right Wing News said succinctly: “The legal term for this is murder.”
I believe this kind of thing will only get worse under state run healthcare but it’s already pretty terrible now. But the issue goes beyond socialism. The crux of the issue is the belief that individuals don’t matter. The only thing that can turn this around is a return to Christian morality which upholds the dignity of life. Many in the medical community seem to have forgotten that life is sacred, not something to be placed against other issues in a cost/benefit analysis.
Mind you that after we got my father out of that hospital he lived for five more years, most of which were in excellent health. It seems a shame that when we bring our loved ones to a supposed place of healing we often have to fight for their lives.
June 16, 2010 at 4:46 am
This post AND the clown picture scare the holy bejesus out of me…
June 16, 2010 at 6:38 am
My father was convinced by his Catholic surgeon to allow his kidney damage to kill him rather than "suffer" through months of chemo. He was diagnosed in December and dead by March. We didn't know until AFTER the fact.
June 16, 2010 at 7:38 am
'terminations without request or consent'
Us common folks just call it murder.
June 16, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I noticed that the clown in the post has an extra long tie. (Ties carry much disease in hospitals that kills.) It even looks like those dots on the tie are macro-sized viruses or bacteria; it's the culture of death (pun intended). Now that's scary.
Sorry.
gbm3
June 16, 2010 at 1:52 pm
My family is caretaker to my disabled mother. In 2001 she suffered a stroke. She, a nurse for 40 years, wanted to die. Her idea was simple–I can't work anymore, I should be dead. She left the first hospital against my and her doctors advice. She suffered ANOTHER stroke that evening, and because she was incoherent, I was able to INSIST she be treated. The years following have been both horrible and rewarding. We have suffered many setbacks and yet she has come so far. 3 years ago, she had a bilateral hip replacement and required a nursing home stay for recovery. That took 10 months. During that time, she was doped up on every pain killer known to Big Pharm. She "decided" that the nursing home was the best place for her. Luckily there was ONE nurse who valued living more than dying. With her help, I was able to confront the Dr. with the pain meds situation and get my mother off the stuff. Once her head was clear, she was easily able to recognize that she didn't want to live in that place for any real length of time. She returned home to us, thankfully, in one piece. She has been a great source of strength and courage for us, especially me. It's now been almost 9 years since her stroke. I opted NOT to just "let her die." I am so glad.
June 16, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Beware anyone who wants to do you good by making their life easier.
June 16, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Well, this post highlights the need of all the faithful laity to become more engaged in HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT EVIL THING AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
Geez, just have that clown pop up at random on the TV channels in the hospital room, and people will check out on their own.
June 16, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Nightfly wins. Everyone else back up your things and go home.
😀
June 16, 2010 at 11:05 pm
"Catholic" hospital doesn't even seem to mean anything, anymore.
June 19, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Matthew, I hope you took the names of the medical staff and reported them to your diocese. That's what we did when our daughter had contraceptives urged on her at a Catholic hospital.
Don't get me wrong. Your post is spot on. Many hospitals absolutely have a death fetish.
But we faithful need to fight, at least for our own institutions. Bishops don't pick up kids from oversexed middle-school dances, and they don't read weblogs.
Respectfully.
Andrew