Oregon says cheaper to die than treat

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 6/13/2008 8:30:00 AMvar addthis_pub = 'onenewsnow';

Thus far Oregon is the only state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, which is loosely regulated. But respect for life may be facing another threat there.

Oregonian Barbara Wagner is dying of lung Cancer. Oregon's Health Services Commission has said it will not pay for more treatment, but will provide $50 in lethal drugs so she can kill herself. Dr. David Stevens heads the Christian Medical Association.
 
"I think this is a terrible situation for patients in Oregon, and something that's going to happen in other states as physician-assisted suicide is legalized," he laments. "Oregon is rationing healthcare and is also sending a message to dying patients that physician-assisted suicide is the cheap option and they would encourage people to take it."
 
Stevens believes that is a conflict of interest for the state because it controls the medical funds. "End-of-life chemotherapy can cost thousands of dollars a month, and bureaucrats -- in an attempt to save money -- are telling patients [they] can't provide money for ... chemotherapy, but here take these pills and they will comfort you [and] end your stress."
 
The situation goes against the grain of medical ethics, says Stevens. "Palliative care means helping take care of symptoms when you can't eliminate the cause of the patient's illness," he explains. "They're stating [that] the way to comfort someone is to get rid of the patient. That's a terrible message to send to seriously ill patients."
 
As it would be, he says, to send the same message to people with chronic diseases or physical handicaps, or to the comatose who cannot make the decision themselves, that they are doing the state a favor in dying.
 
A pharmaceutical company is now providing Wagner with cancer drugs for which the state will not pay.

Yeah, we don't want to pay a huge price for your treatment, but we will pay a small fee for you to kill yourself so that we can save money.

Will this stupidity ever end?

Human life now is cheaper than dirt unde the whole liberal culture... 

When we fail to learn from history we are doomed to repeat it.

Could we be setting the stage for something much worse than Nazi Germany?

kmcheng said:

Yeah, we don't want to pay a huge price for your treatment, but we will pay a small fee for you to kill yourself so that we can save money.

Will this stupidity ever end?

Human life now is cheaper than dirt unde the whole liberal culture... 

cold hard economics... from that perspective it makes a lot of sense. 

This is a contract issue... did she buy a contract that obliged the other party to pay under these circumstances or is this decision one where the ins co said, "screw you we won't pay... sue us"?

If they are obligated to pay and are refusing because they got a raw deal... well, that's just plain good old fashioned evil and not surprising.... sadly.

However, if they aren't contractually obligated then isn't patient asking for more than she is entitled to because her circumstances are dire?  And if we demand the ins co pay up when we think they are morally obligated but not legally so, have we not just destroyed the insurance industry... and nasty business to be sure but a devil we must deal with.