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Death panels have existed for decades...whether it is a committee that meets to discuss the "decision" or whether it is two doctors quietly colluding in the hall way. There was one incident that really stuck in my mind. I was sitting having a private conversation with a young nurse while visiting someone in the hospital. She was very candid with me. In her hand she held a syringe filled with morphine. Plain as day and with semi-humor she said "This is what we use to get rid of old people" - sounds like the "death panel" can consist of ONE - who's actions are tacitly condoned.
When you hear about a person passing away - you will always hear that they are "comfortable" prior to death...It is not the cancer or the kidney failure that they finally die from...It is the morphine that kills them...If you are given enough, your ability to breath is impaired and you suffocate while in a morphine induced stupor. You can't speak but you know you can not breath...There is no easy way out.
If you had enough morphine to cause cessation of breathing, you are not conscious. Personally, if I had a painful and terminal illness, I would like to die from an overdose of narcotic rather than suffer and fight for every breath.
What does your question have to do with the post I was responding to?
"Originally Posted by carterstamp Not a death panel, and your premise, as usual, is bogus. Sebelius is not in charge of the transplant network.
Can we stop the nonsense now, or is it too much to ask?"
Try and keep up.
Sebelius is not in charge of who gets transplants. That would be OPTN, and UNOS.
Quote:
Organs are allocated (given) according to strict rules that take into account physical matching, tissue and blood type matching, medical criteria, waiting time, severity of illness, etc. The allocation system is blind to name, race, sex, and wealth. The allocation rules have been developed over many years of deliberation by physicians and other transplant professionals, transplant candidates and recipients, donor families, and representatives of the federal government. To review the policies refer to the Policy Management section on the UNOS website at UNOS.
They are periodically adjusted, as medical knowledge grows and the field of transplantation changes in the U.S. Any proposed changes are open to public comment through the Policy Management section of the UNOS website at UNOS.
Her daughter is already on the PEDIATRIC list. The success rate for transplanting an adult lung into a childs body are slim, so the DOCTORS who set the guidelines for transplant recipients set the age. The government didn't.
Why do you feel that the rules should be changed for her, and not for the dozens of other children waiting on the list?
Why do you ask such asinine questions?
ALL the mother is asking for is for her daughter to BE PUT ON THE LIST. The doctors have already evaluated her condition have concluded she is a viable candidate for a transplant. The DOCTORS should decide the order of those that get a transplant.
If the daughter is ranker No.1 or No.12, it shouldn't be made by the government but, by the medical community. The daughter should NOT be excluded because she is 10 and not 12.
The Mother is trying to get the 12 year old rule changed not only for her daughter but, in order to help ALL children under 12.
"What you are asking for, right now, is for one political appointee to decide who lives and dies. Is that what you want?"
IMO. That is a pretty stupid assertion to make.
A little reading on the subject BEFORE making such assertion might give you a little more credibility.
I know it might be tough for some to understand.
ALL the mother is asking for is for her daughter to BE PUT ON THE LIST. The doctors have already evaluated her condition have concluded she is a viable candidate for a transplant. The DOCTORS should decide the order of those that get a transplant.
If the daughter is ranker No.1 or No.12, it shouldn't be made by the government but, by the medical community. The daughter should NOT be excluded because she is 10 and not 12.
ALL the mother is asking for is for the protocol, that was put into place in 2005 and was devised and implemented by doctors, to be changed without review for her daughter.
Her daughter is already on the list to receive a pediatric lung appropriate in size for her. Thankfully, we do not have many children that die, and those children that do die are victims of diseases which make organ donation non-viable, or die in catastrophic situations. Lungs have a very short time-frame between being removed and transplanted, in order to remain viable.
Adult lungs can be modified to fit into the chest cavity of a small child, but there are multiple problems with doing so. First of all, the child will have to take anti-rejection meds for life. Her immune system will be particularly vulnerable to respiratory infections. Secondly, the blood flow to the lungs and the capacity of the lungs are altogether different for a child and an adult, which poses special challenges to the surgical team, and to the recovery team. Those challenges are complicated by the existing health issues of this child, whose cystic fibrosis appears to be particularly aggressive and which has likely compromised her digestive system and pancreas as well as her lungs.
BREAKING NEWS. The kid was just put on the adult list.
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