the dignity scam (follow the money)

I argued for comfort care and not to use extraordinary care for the elderly and dying in a previous post.

But let me argue the other side.

That baby in England whose doctors insist they want him to be treated with "comfort dignity and privacy".

but it's a scam: The kid didn't die right away after they took him off the respirator, so they denied him fluids/food and oxygen, which are ordinary care that the family could do at home.

And the cops are guarding the kid so the family doesn't take him home.

The Pope and the Italian press is involved on the side of the parents, but never mind: The courts ruled that he needs to die, so be it.

Why?
because of the "QALY" or "dignity scam"

In Alfie's case, because he is a cute looking child, the veil that hides the actual agenda has been torn. And that is the real danger.

So the authorities are pushing back to an absurd degree:

Not only are the cops are keeping the parents from moving him elsewhere, but the authorities are even monitoring "malicious" posts about him on the social media.

Because thought crime?


Kira Davis at Redstate says the real reason is that the family is embarassing the NIH and daring to question the QALY idea.

What is not logical and nearly incomprehensible is the decision of the court not simply to deny Alfie further treatment, but then deny his right and the right of his parents to leave the country to seek treatment elsewhere.

Even that decision might make a tiny bit of sense if it were to add to the NHS’ costs. That would be a problem for that pesky algorithm.

However, Italy had already sent an airlift equipped to take the young child. His transportation and hospital provisions were covered by donations and the state of Italy. In fact, to move Alfie out of the care of the NHS would only save them money and labor. Alfie’s parents would have one more shot at rescuing his life. It seems like a win-win for everyone.

well, maybe the Pope/Italy should bribe PMMay like Ghadaffy did Tony Blair who got the Lockerbie Bomber out of the clutches of the death panels who decided not to treat him based on QALY data. because it would have been "too expensive".

Several doctors swore that he only had three months to live: But what they meant is that he only had three months to live without treatment. Libya treated him and he lived for two years.

but the point here is that in both cases, the idea that the person should die was based on "scientific" criteria, and what no one is talking about is that the "scientific" criteria are not scientific at all, but based on opinion/prejudice.

See that "Q" in the QALY? that means quality of life. as in this:

(as in) the EuroQol Group's EQ-5D questionnaire, which categorises health states according to five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities (e.g. work, study, homework or leisure activities), pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression.[5]

but a lot of these things can be treated (having caregivers, devices to assist people to live independently, proper pain management and proper treatement of anxiety/depression).

so if you don't meet the criteria because you were not properly treated, it means you are toast anyway. What's wrong with this picture?

Orwell would be proud:  QALY (quality of life years) criteria are how The Death panels the NICE (national committe of Health and Care excellence) decides if you should live or die.

and with the growing "elderly" population (and fewer kids/immigrants to support them by their taxes) you can see how this cost control idea could rapidly expand to active killing of the old, senile, and those denied treatment.

But before you point fingers at the NIH/UK, maybe you should read about the "futile care" law in Texas that has gotten little publicy.

from Wikipedia:

The Texas Advance Directives Act (1999), also known as the Texas Futile Care Law, describes certain provisions that are now Chapter 166 of the Texas Health & Safety Code.

Controversy over these provisions mainly centers on Section 166.046, Subsection (e),1 which allows a health care facility to discontinue life-sustaining treatment ten days after giving written notice if the continuation of life-sustaining treatment is considered futile care by the treating medical team.

Unlike the UK, if the family wants to, they can move the patient and pay their bills.

Or they can ask the hospital "ethics" committee" to decide. The problem being that most "bioethics" types already believe in the "QALY" mindset, so good luck to you fellah.

so what would I do? Without medical information, I can't really make a good decision.

Probably I would advise the family to take him home where he would have the loving care of his parents and their friends for his last days. Now that he is off the respirator, they should be able to do that.

Essentially I advise hospice type care.

If the pro lifers are that worried, well, they can help.

all the arguments about "dignity" make me cynical: there is no dignity in being disabled, or old or incontinent or confused.

but I'm still old fashioned enough to remember that quip by a sardonic Jewish Carpenter about "the least of your brethran".

There is no such thing as a meaningless life, so take your child home, and love him:

“Not one day in anyone’s life is an uneventful day, no day without profound meaning, no matter how dull and boring it might seem, no matter whether you are a seamstress or a queen, a shoeshine boy, or a movie star, a renowned philosopher or a Down’s-syndrome child. Because in every day of your life, there are opportunities to perform little kindnesses for others, both by conscious acts of will and unconscious example.

Each smallest act of kindness—even just words of hope when they are needed, the remembrance of a birthday, a compliment that engenders a smile—reverberates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it’s passed, until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away.

---Dean Koontz.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/alfie-evans-forced-to-remain-in-uk-hospital

and given the ability of young children's brains to recover from devestating damage, there is an argument not to give up hope.

Jahi McMath, have your mom call the parents and tell them to hold on...