Aug 21 2009
VA: “Is Your Life Worth Living” Program
Why is that every time I hear Barry speak, he sounds like a used car salesman, who wouldn’t be caught dead in the car he’s selling. (I caught a few minutes of him on his “conservative” talk show yesterday.) Guess he drills down his lines and that’s it. Doesn’t read the bill, after all he’s too busy playing golf on the weekend. And, after all, why should he have to do anything? That’s what his 44 czars are for, isn’t it? And, of course, he thinks we Americans are too stupid to be knowledgeable about the contents of the Bill. The British have always been a bit snobby, don’t you think? And that’s what Barry is, British….
I’m a Veteran, so when I read that Barry had re-instituted the “end of life” counseling for Veterans, I have to say, I just shook my head in disgust. According to Jim Towey, WSJ, this program, which had been discontinued by GWB, was re-instituted by Barry. “Bureaucrats at the VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, “Your Life, Your Choices,” written by Dr. Robert Perlman, an advocate for “physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing.”
On the other hand, Mr Towey wrote an “advance care planning document called “Five Wishes” that is today the most widely used living will in America, with 13 million copies in national circulation. Unlike the VA’s document, this one does not contain the standard bias to withdraw or withhold medical care.It meets the legal requirements of at least 43 states, and it runs exactly 12 pages. A little more caring.
