Death Panels for the Premature One

7Mar/11Off

Death Panels for the Premature One

Sundries Shack has an excellent post on a "death panel." It's not quite a panel per say, merely one person - who's decided that money would be better spent not on something other than premature babies. Since they're in a nation with socialized medicine (United Kingdom), this is a decision the government decides on, not families who decide what they are or are not ready to fight for. Here's an excerpt from the post:

Dr. Austin is only telling you what she thinks the British Government can afford to keep a baby alive, not what she believes that baby’s life is worth. In truth, if it cost a million dollars to save a baby’s life, there are people all over England who would come up with that money in short order of their own volition. But that’s the problem with government-run health care systems. With a finite pool of money, the bureaucrats in charge can’t leave the decisions to doctors or patients. Those folks would say all sorts of crazy things like “Damn the cost; save the baby!” and “Price is no object.”

But in government-run health systems, price is the only object. Expensive long-shots like keeping a prematurely-born baby alive, or extending the life of an old person a couple more years will always lose to safer methods used on healthier patients. Before long, we simply let the weakest among us die off because we can’t afford to keep them around. It’s not a long step from there until we have de facto eugenics, as preached by progressives for at least a hundred years. I’m pretty sure we don’t want to go down that road, which is why we need to practice a little mercy killing of government-run health care here in our own country.

As a father of a little boy who was born 10 weeks early, I feel a personal connection to this story. The problem with rationed health care, especially government run health care is exactly the issue pointed out above. The government decides what's worth paying for as opposed to individuals getting to decide what they're willing to pay for. As a father, I would fight and pay as much as necessary to keep my son alive if necessary. This is why we have health insurance.

But to immediately give up on children born before 24 weeks is ludicrous. In 2007, a 21 week old premature baby, born at 10 ounces survived and went home after around 6 months. The baby's been doing fine since. To assume that all babies born before 23 weeks are unable to be saved is ludicrous at best and a form of eugenics at worst.

This is, in many ways, what those who oppose government health care fear. A board, or in this case a person, decides whether you're life is worth paying for. I don't want that and I'm sure most Americans don't either.

If you want to help continue research into helping save the lives of premature babies, check into the March of Dimes or to Embrace, an organization which has developed a low-cost infant warming device that looks like a blanket. If you're interested Embrace, here's more details on the actual product and how it works. It's an amazing product that my wife and I have donated to in the past.

Tagged as: 2011, death panels, health care reform, obamacare, premature Comments Off

Comments (55) Trackbacks (1) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

AJ
March 7th, 2011 - 20:33

As the father of a son who a month before his second birthday was diagnosed with a terminal condition, I fully understand the concept. Had it been ten years earlier, he would have been given a month or two to live, in severe pain, and sent home to die. With expensive newer treatments and medications, he lived to the age of four years, five months, and ten days. His mother, brother, and I treasure every second we were able to share with this amazing boy.
Had government run single-payer national health insurance been in place when he was diagnosed, they would not have been willing to pay the costs for the treatments he received, as he was not expected to live to an age where he would pay taxes. And, had he lived that long, he would have been disabled anyway.
If said insurance been law a decade earlier, the research would never have been done that led to his treatments and medications, as they, again, would not have benefited tax-paying patients.
My son’s disease, you ask? Pulmonary Hypertension, an “old person’s” disease, though he was not even two when diagnosed.
His medications? Many, but one was sildenafil citrate, a smooth muscle vasodilator. It was developed to treat pulmonary diseases, but now has been found effective for other conditions and is sold for a profit by pharmaceutical companies, adding to their taxable profits.
Dave
March 9th, 2011 - 15:23

Heh. I am the Godfather to a preemie born at 23 weeks weighing just 14 oz. She’s just celebrated her 8th birthday and is in perfect health, if a bit small in stature. The irony here is that her mother, one of my best friends, is an ardent liberal, fervent Obama backer and noisy supporter of government run health care. I love her to death, and as such the effort I’ve made in the past few years that’s prevented me from grabbing her and shouting in her face “What you’re advocating would have meant the death of your daughter” is nothing short of astounding. She just….can’t see what’s right in front of her face. *sigh* Our friendship is worth more than an I told you so, so i won’t be forwarding this article on to her either.
Nulono
March 9th, 2011 - 19:10

I’m more scared of insurance companies making these decisions, because they’re only accountable to their bottom line.
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Clearly, though, there seemed to be that common British contempt for Americans in the whole thing, which in turn is not fully unfounded. Rather than taking this all as a wakeup call concerning Hollywood customs, these clowns decided to pout.
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