Friday, June 13, 2008
I suppose it was going to happen
Barbara Wagner is dying of lung cancer, and Oregon won't pay for any more treatment. But it will cover a fatal dosage of drugs so she can kill herself, according to citizenlink.org. Dr. Kevin Olson, a member of the Oregon Health Services Commission, said coverage is limited to "those services that offer the most benefit in terms of prolonging life, especially those services that are low cost and high value." So the state is offering Wagner end-of-life "comfort care" — suicide. A pharmaceutical company has stepped in to pay for the medicine Wagner was denied.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey Badger,
America is now a country much like the village in The Ballad of Narayama. That film depicted a Japanese village where the custom was that on one's 70th birthday one was required to go up the mountain to starve to death for the convenience of the community. We don't necessarily carry them up the mountain and leave them to die (although your post shows that we do something similar) but we certainly do expect them to keep themselves out of the way. It is a very sad day for America!
Post a Comment