Comment by zdragnar
6 hours ago
The problem isn't that the urgent request went through, it's that she requested hospice or palliative care and was denied. And, let's be honest, POA should not be sufficient to euthanize a person who is awake, aware, and revoked consent.
"Do no harm" has been replaced with "put them down if it's cheaper and we can get away with it"
Who's involved that wants it to be less expensive? Surely the doctors don't care. In the US everyone wants it to be more expensive.
Since we're talking about Canada, ostensibly the government, as the provider of healthcare, wants it to be inexpensive enough that the citizens have a first-world level of care... as opposed to euthanizing sick people because it's easier than providing hospice or expensive treatment.
After all, using the monopoly power of government and taxation is meant to be more efficient and provide more services at lower costs.
A cynical person might presume that MAID is being used as a cost savings measure more than an empathetic alternative for those who do not wish to wait to die of natural causes.
Are the headlines the tip of the iceberg, or the exceptions that gain notoriety? When the government and health care system are so deeply intertwined, who has access to the data but not an incentive to obscure the facts? With any luck, time will tell.
Who in the US (that comprises "everyone") wants it to be more expensive?
Oh, mostly just the hospitals, the insurers, the medical device manufacturers, the pharmacy benefits managers, the pharmaceutical companies, the group purchasing organizations, and the clearinghouses. Everyone who can take a bigger cut if there’s more money sloshing around the industry.