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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (78196)	10/22/2003 6:09:57 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

Well, countering with an insult, while not unexpected from you, continues to duck the question. Karen asked you flat out, how many people do you let into the lifeboat? And what do you do when the one more wants to get in? In the present situation it's not quite that clear cut, but principles are the same. We cannot afford, as a society, to provide every possible medical intervention for every possible citizen. We simply can't do it. Some people will have to do without some medical services. We either have to make those decisions proactively, or we have to let them happen by unintentionality. That's our present situation. If Karin's parents hadn't been willing to spend gobs of money trying to keep her feeding tube in, it would have been pulled long ago. But they chose to spend those societal resources that way. Meanwhile, though, many other individuals without people able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and medical fees die, maybe some who were more able to be saved and to lead meaningful lives than Karin. But she's the one whose parents squeaked loudest. How many patients do you think can get legislatures and governors to intervene on their behalf? By letting this circus go on as it has, we simply emphasize for both the rich and the poor that in our system, we have built in a process where money and influence control medical decision making. You seem comfortable with that. I, however, am not.