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Little-Acorn
02-23-2011, 12:27 PM
Hey, the kid is going to die anyway, so may as well just pull the plug on him now. It'll cost less money than what his family wants.

I'm glad no one in this country is calling for Universal Health Care programs that might eventually give government the power to make decisions like this in America.

Are they?

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/22/canadian-family-fights-babys-beathing-tube-place/

Canadian Family Fights to Keep Boy's Breathing Tube in Place

Published February 22, 2011

The Canadian family of a 13-month-old boy clinging to life support has defied a court order to remove the boy’s breathing tube and now is looking to an American hospital for what experts say would be a miracle recovery.

The boy, Joseph Maraachli, has been in a vegetative state at a hospital in London, Ontario, since last fall. He’s been treated for a neurodegenerative disease that doctors ruled leaves no hope for the boy.

A Superior Court judge, in turn, ordered that Maraachli’s breathing tube be removed on Monday. But his family refused, insisting that the boy be released to his family’s care, according to CBC News.

“I belive in my son,” Moe Maraachli, the boy's father, told Fox News on Monday. “I will never let my son die in the doctors’ way.”

The family says removing the ventilator would promise an agonizing death for the boy.

fj1200
02-23-2011, 02:05 PM
And the alternative is...?

Noir
02-23-2011, 03:42 PM
It's a bit of a clunker. But IMO the last call should always rest with the family.

Thunderknuckles
02-23-2011, 04:21 PM
Fuggin' Canadians. I don't care if the boy is terminally ill and going to die within the week. It's not the government's job to decide when your ticket gets punched.

Noir
02-23-2011, 04:25 PM
Fuggin' Canadians. I don't care if the boy is terminally ill and going to die within the week. It's not the government's job to decide when your ticket gets punched.

If he was gonna die in a week there would be no problem. It's if he's gonna be using the equipment for the next dozen years that rises the dilemma.

Thunderknuckles
02-23-2011, 04:31 PM
If he was gonna die in a week there would be no problem. It's if he's gonna be using the equipment for the next dozen years that rises the dilemma.
I understand that Noir but the parents are asking that doctors perform a tracheotomy so he can die at home in presence of those that love him and the hospital is refusing even that. So, everyone else but the parents and the child get to decide the child's fate. Damn shame.

fj1200
02-23-2011, 04:36 PM
Fuggin' Canadians. I don't care if the boy is terminally ill and going to die within the week. It's not the government's job to decide when your ticket gets punched.

It is if they're the HC provider/insurance company. Would it have been different if they had a private insurance?

Thunderknuckles
02-24-2011, 09:32 AM
It is if they're the HC provider/insurance company. Would it have been different if they had a private insurance?
Private insurance would stop paying for the care.
Gov't insurance issues a court order to stop care.

fj1200
02-24-2011, 10:02 AM
Private insurance would stop paying for the care.
Gov't insurance issues a court order to stop care.

Who took it to court?


Moe Maraachli, appearing Tuesday on “America Live with Megyn Kelly,” criticized his son’s treatment at the Canadian hospital, comparing it to a jail. He went on to say that he would not consent to taking Joseph off the ventilator under the court’s recent ruling.

But I do agree with you, the government should have no role in this other than oversight, it's just not clear that this wouldn't happen in the US, see Schaivo.

Little-Acorn
02-24-2011, 02:05 PM
It's not the government's job to decide when your ticket gets punched.

It is if they're the HC provider/insurance company.

You have named the most important reason why government should NEVER be the Health Care Insurance Provider.

Thunderknuckles
02-24-2011, 05:50 PM
Who took it to court?



But I do agree with you, the government should have no role in this other than oversight, it's just not clear that this wouldn't happen in the US, see Schaivo.
Yeah, I remember the Terry Schiavo case. I think the only difference in that one was the husband asked to have her feeding tube removed and Terri's parents opposed it which began the whole legal battle and eventual government involvement. One thing is clear now that you mention that case: It resulted in a shit storm of legal activity that went all the way to highest federal levels and cost lord only knows. Just another reason to keep the government out of it.