Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Oregon’s Right to Die Law

Obama says this new plan won’t have a “death panel.” We have nothing to fear. If it can happen in Oregon, it can happen in Ohio or Illinois. The Chilling Truth

"One of the great concerns about Oregon is the suggestion that the very existence of the right-to-die law means the state's health system now has less of an incentive to provide terminally-ill people with proper care.

It is something that came to blight 64-year-old Barbara Wagner's last days.

Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005, the former bus driver vowed to fight the disease so she could spend as long as possible with her family.

Even after her doctor warned last year that she had less than six months left, she refused to give up, pinning all her hopes on a new life-prolonging treatment.

But her request, at the beginning of last year, for the £2,500-a-month drug was refused by Oregon's state-run health plan as being too expensive. Instead, she was offered lethal medication to end her life.

'It was horrible,' Barbara told reporters. 'I got a letter in the mail that basically said if you want to take the pills we will help you get them from a doctor and we will stand there and watch you die - but we won't give you the medicine to live.

'I told them: "Who do you think you are to say that you will pay for my dying, but you won't pay for me to possibly live longer?"

'I am opposed to the assisted suicide law. I haven't considered it, even at my lowest ebb.'

Hearing of her plight, pharmaceutical company Genentech decided to give her the drug, Tarceva, free for one year. Barbara died in October last year and her family believes the added stress of her brush with the state hastened her end.

'She felt totally betrayed,' her ex-husband Dennis, 65, said this week. 'It comes down to the buck. It's not about compassion and understanding. The bottom line is that it is all about money and Barbara fell into the middle of it.'"

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you guys on the right actually have a consistent position about health care reform. One day you're complaining about the cost to taxpayers of any potential health care plan. And the next day, you got your panties in a bunch because you found an example of one denying expensive treatment to a patient. Which, by the way, is something we all know private insurance companies have never been known to do.

So, other than political talking points, what are you guys really looking for?

Norma said...

For starters, tort reform. Return to the doctor patient decisions (pre-managed care of the pre-Clinton days). If you were anything but a troll sniping at the so called right (many people objecting have voted Democrat all their lives), you would know some of the alternatives. I didn't write and research the above article--go complain to that reporter. You don't like anyone who points out the flaws in Obama's takeover of our economy, so it wouldn't matter if every detail of the plan could enlighten you--you'd still be a believer.

Anonymous said...

I may be, as you say, a "troll", but that's not nearly as unhealthy as being a rumor-monger like yourself. And incessantly repeating everything you hear or read just because it reflects your political view or sounds good to you.

In the future, you might keep in mind the words of Sgt. Joe Friday. "Just the facts, Ma'am."

Anonymous said...

One thing I don't understand about the Right to Die issue is why the people who believe the most in God will do whatever they can medically to avoid meeting him.

Norma said...

Yeah, that murder thing. Such a shame.

Anonymous said...

"Any doubts that President Barack Obama’s “townhall” in Portsmouth, New Hampshire yesterday was a complete farce were dispelled early on when the hand picked crowd broke out in a chant of: “Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!” at the close of his opening remarks." Morning Bell, Aug. 12.

Usually Republicans don't chant in support of Obama. They couldn't even get in. Does he know the campaign is over?

Anonymous said...

Is this a story from a friend, or can I find this in a news article about Barbara Wagner?