More From Your Paradise of Socialized Medicine
In today's Daily Mail (UK):
"The parents of a terminally ill girl face a battle with the NHS to keep their six-year-old daughter alive.
"Amber Hartland, who suffers from the disease Infantile Tay-Sachs, is being treated for a chest infection brought on by the genetic disorder.
"But doctors have warned her parents, Nick and Lesley Hartland, that it could be the last time they will treat her.
"Infantile Tay-Sachs is an incurable condition which attacks the nervous system. Victims usually die before the age of four.
"It is thought that, given Amber's prognosis, doctors believe the suffering caused by treatment outweighs the benefits.
The case echoes that of Charlotte Wyatt, the severely disabled child whose parents eventually won the right for her to be revived in the event of a collapse, despite severe heart and lung problems from her premature birth in 2003.
Amber is receiving care at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust is now applying for a court to rule on whether it can stop treatment.
The trust said yesterday only that it would be acting in Amber's best interests."
"The parents of a terminally ill girl face a battle with the NHS to keep their six-year-old daughter alive.
"Amber Hartland, who suffers from the disease Infantile Tay-Sachs, is being treated for a chest infection brought on by the genetic disorder.
"But doctors have warned her parents, Nick and Lesley Hartland, that it could be the last time they will treat her.
"Infantile Tay-Sachs is an incurable condition which attacks the nervous system. Victims usually die before the age of four.
"It is thought that, given Amber's prognosis, doctors believe the suffering caused by treatment outweighs the benefits.
The case echoes that of Charlotte Wyatt, the severely disabled child whose parents eventually won the right for her to be revived in the event of a collapse, despite severe heart and lung problems from her premature birth in 2003.
Amber is receiving care at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust is now applying for a court to rule on whether it can stop treatment.
The trust said yesterday only that it would be acting in Amber's best interests."
"We're going to kill you-- but it's for your own good!"
ReplyDeleteWe must also consider that millions of Americans, including millions of poor children, cannot even afford medical care in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe NHS in the UK is very popular. People sometimes jokingly refer to it as "the national religion".
Japan has a system closer to the US but still significantly better, with highly affordable insurance due to strict regulations about what doctors are allowed to charge for medical procedures. The poorest in the country are covered by free public insurance. The average cost of a hospital bed per night in Japan is $10, and they have universal coverage.
For more information visit:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/