Saturday, February 05, 2005
Another step down that slippery slope....
The Guardian reports:
Doctors have stepped into a right-to-life row following the suggestion some hospital patients should be allowed to die because it costs so much to keep them alive.
The Daily Mail reported that leaked Government papers suggest that they should be denied food and liquid if they fall into a coma or are too ill to speak for themselves.
The Department of Health has refused to comment. A spokeswoman said: "I cannot comment on the Daily Mail story. I can tell you it is a leaked document. We are not saying anything further."
However, the British Medical Association said it would be "quite wrong" to let financial considerations affect decisions on when to withdraw food and water. A spokeswoman for the BMA said: "It would be quite wrong to make a life or death decision based on the cost of treatment."
She also criticised a move by the Department to seek clarification on a right to life ruling, saying it was already clear.
If this is the way thought is moving, why did their parents and grandparents get so upset about the putting down of "defective" people by Germany in the 1930s?
