Login to Change.org
Create an Account
Joseph Kras
Olivette, MO
Recent Activity
-
Joseph signed the petition | -
Joseph commented on the article |Sam died last Friday of pneumococcal meningitis; he had been admitted to the hospital last Tuesday. After doctors said that there was "no hope of recovery," he was discharged to "end his life at home."
It sounds very much as if Sam, and indirectly his parents, were a victim of "futile care theory". This is a concept that is entrenched in most health care systems where care is provided by the state, and will almost certainly be incorporated into any such system introduced in the U.S. Basically, "futile care theory" places values on peoples' lives, and the lives of the disabled are not valued much at all. So when someone who is disabled gets a potentially curable infection, they are left to die (because treating them would use too many societal resources).
For more on this, and how it is starting to make inroads into the U.S. health care system, see here for an article from a few years ago.
Joe -
Joseph commented on the article |Many hospitals also have varieties of futile-care policies that can mean that their ethics committees (which are nearly always made up of non-disabled people with no idea of the disability experience) can decide whether or not to keep you alive, and how long to keep you alive. While the word "futile" is in the Not Dead Yet article, NDY means it quite differently than how it is sometimes interpreted. Sometimes it is interpreted to mean that if the person has a lifetime of "suffering" ahead of them (i.e. disability) then it's ethical to declare any care for them, to be futile.
This paragraph of Amanda's bears repeating. It cannot be emphasized too strongly.
The whole concept of "futile care" is a big issue in current ethics circles, and stands to be incorporated into any new system of "universal health care" where medical decisions are being made for you, whether you agree with them or not.
See this post from a couple of years ago for an example of this.
Joe -
Joseph commented on the article |The only encouraging thing is that many people get disoriented in the hospital.
Perhaps once your MIL is back in her own environment and on her own schedule, she'll get back to her own self a bit more.
Hang in there.
Joe -
Joseph commented on the article |Happy Birthday to Charlie!
... St. Louis Bread Company, aka..........????!???)
That would be Au Bon Pain, aka Panera.
Joe -
Joseph commented on the article |Dora,
There may be some good things about a down economy. As colleges struggle to keep enrollments up during bad economic times, they are forced to look to increase their market share in niche markets, like LD students.
Joe -
Joseph signed the petition |
Impact
2 Actions
0 Recruits
Top Causes
|
2 Actions
|