Wednesday, September 09, 2009

What Obamacare will look like for older women

Osteoporosis. After all, Dr. Zeke says if you are over 65, you can't contribute much and aren't worth treating.
    Emanuel, however, believes that "communitarianism" should guide decisions on who gets care. He says medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia" (Hastings Center Report, Nov.-Dec. '96).

    Translation: Don't give much care to a grandmother with Parkinson's or a child with cerebral palsy.

    He explicitly defends discrimination against older patients: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years" (Lancet, Jan. 31).
NY Post, "Deadly doctors."

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