“Death Pathways” in the UK
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Telegraph reports British doctors are warning that patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under a National Health Service scheme that helps end their lives:
“In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.
Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.
But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.”
One doctor describes it as a “death pathway,” a term that is reminiscent of the “death panel” we’ve heard so much about.
— DRJ
It is nothing at all like a death panel.
See? The word “panel” isn’t anywhere in there…
Besides, Hawaii had this idea a little while ago.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 9/2/2009 @ 10:14 pmDamn limeys, always stealing our ideas…
The “mob” is acting up across the pond as well!
Patricia (7aaa75) — 9/2/2009 @ 10:56 pm[…] Patterico’s Pontifications » “Death Pathways” in the UK Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) Leave a comment Trackback […]
We spell it “COLOR”, they spell it “COLOUR” in the UK, we call it “Death Panels”, they call it “Death Pathways”. « Are you Freaking Stupid? (4797e5) — 9/2/2009 @ 11:14 pmObama knows what’s coming and lies and lies about it. We must stop this Obamacare.
krusher (c74f82) — 9/3/2009 @ 2:42 amIf there’s a problem, with the NHS then they should fix it and do it now.
But how do you “fix” an insurance company’s death panels. And as you know but are unwilling to admit every insurance company has them. The government does not have one and claims such as the above should be examined and dealt with publicly.
Your logic seems to be that systems should be allowed to kill people as long as they’re in private hands and decisions are based on financial considerations. So lets privatize Social Security, the US Military and the National Weather Service. It’s a disgusting that government employees are right now fighting tp keep Patterico’s house from burning to the ground. Privatize the fire department! Privatize the prosecutors office too while you’re at it.
Nicely put by someone else:
“We’ve had Republicans arguing against the public option on the grounds that it would be too popular, and now we’re going to have people arguing for a trigger on the grounds that while the public option would make insurance companies behave, maybe they’ll start behaving all on their own.
And our media will never tell you the dirty little secret that the public option will be cheaper.”
It’s called a Public Option. It’s a guaranteed minimum, not a guaranteed maximum
You people a f’ing idiots. You can’t admit any mistake, ever. Just keep digging yourself a deeper hole. Stay with Glen Beck and Pat Buchanan, who now says Hitler didn’t want to go to war!
The more the Democrats caved the more looney you became. The Democrat’s indulgence made you into spoiled children but it now become psychosis. And the Dems still don’t know how to stand up to it.
JW Democrat (1e4a3b) — 9/3/2009 @ 8:59 amwhat a country.
A tsunami of stooopid from JW. Sadly predictable. The words death panels are not in the bill you stupid wingNazis! STFU racists!
JD (92fffb) — 9/3/2009 @ 9:07 amJW – If this is a crisis, why will it not be implemented until 2013, like cap&destroy?
JD (92fffb) — 9/3/2009 @ 9:09 amMaybe JW can tell us how taking over the healthcare system will improve efficiency, reduce costs, and provide better healthcare. Start with Medicare, which Barcky says is currently out of control and the biggest strain on the federal budget. Then tell us how it can be done in a manner without raising taxes and remaining deficit neutral.
JD (14b6c9) — 9/3/2009 @ 9:15 amI really like how the stupid links Patterico to support of Glenn Beck and Pat Buchanan. Doing a quick site search for hits in support of Pat Buchanan, I find one link to a 2006 post by guest poster the angry clam favorably recollecting Pat Buchanan’s 1992 speech at the Republican Convention, a few links debunking the assertion that Sarah Palin supported Pat Buchanan’s runs for the presidency, and a single reference by Patterico in 2003 saying that he generally dislikes Buchanan.
As for Glenn Beck, a quick search of the site finds the recent post mocking Beck’s misspelling of oligarch, with a note for the later retraction, and a minor series of references to information brought out by Beck, but checkable elsewhere. Nowhere is it evident that Patterico supports or agrees with Beck.
With that kind of strawman, one might get the sense that JW was arguing in bad faith… of course the argument that “private companies have death panels, so what’s the dealio if the government has death panels too, but they totally won’t have death panels” kind of requires bad faith to begin with.
However I like the flow of the argument. “What’s the big deal about death panels, which the government totally won’t have and why don’t we privatize everything, besides someone else said government will be cheaper and spleaaarch GLENN BECK FUCKING IDIOTS RACISTS COUNTRY GONE BAD!”
Hadlowe (950bf2) — 9/3/2009 @ 9:52 amIt’s not often that you can track the descent from semi-coherence to gibbering lunacy so concisely.
If the government controls the money, they will control how the money is spent.
Your mother, father, sister…you. If you can’t decide what health care procedures to spend your money on, you won’t have any influence at all.
The tax cheats get to decide instead.
MTF (17058c) — 9/3/2009 @ 9:57 amHadlowe – I tip my cap to you. Well said.
JD (14b6c9) — 9/3/2009 @ 10:12 am“Start with Medicare, which Barcky says is currently out of control and the biggest strain on the federal budget.”
Medicare is fine, and poplar.
Medicaid. is in trouble.
“private companies have death panels, so what’s the deal if the government has death panels too, but they totally won’t have death panels”
Not what I said. Government stinginess can be corrected.
Greed is a corporations reasons for existing. And I have no vote with Cigna.
Patterico hearts Palin/ Palin Hearts Beck.
But sorry if I lump all the loons together.
[Comment found in and released from filter. — DRJ
By the way, JW, I’m not sure what Palin has to do with this post but I’m probably a bigger fan of Palin than Patterico. In addition, I have the feeling you may be confusing us, especially since it seems you don’t realize Patterico didn’t write this post.]
JW Democrat (105b91) — 9/3/2009 @ 10:12 amPrice controls.
What are the side effects?
Michael Ejercito (833607) — 9/3/2009 @ 10:44 amJW Democrat, your claims are intentionally dishonest. Your attempt to put words in our mouths being the best but not the only example. Glenn Beck? Grow up, Patterico does not care for Beck, I can’t think of any regulars here that do, and I never watch or listen to the clown.
SPQR (5811e9) — 9/3/2009 @ 11:35 amSPQR – That was but the tip of the iceburg. Its rewriting of history was a condemnation of our educational system.
JD (9e41b2) — 9/3/2009 @ 11:43 amUK’s got “death panels” in the NHS…
In another example of how Britain’s socialized health care is a bad system, it’s reported that NHS is letting patients die who may not even be close to death at all (Hat tip: The American Thinker):…
Tel-Chai Nation (59ce3a) — 9/4/2009 @ 12:28 am