QUOTE
"The danger here that is being raised, that some people are afraid of, is that seniors, when they get into a very vulnerable condition, and maybe even depression, can be pressured or feel vulnerable to being pressured to sign away certain medical treatments. There are not enough safeguards to make sure that doesn’t happen."


Pitts said this at Conestoga Valley High School. An audience member who is a nurse almost immediately commented that this was a slight to healthcare professionals. I thought this was out of character for Pitts to say something like that. He hasn't repeated that statement, but he hasn't apologized either.

WHY SHOULD HE APOLOGIZE FOR THAT????? I have seen that happen with my own two eyes!

Well, if you have, I hope you wrote the bastard up because that would be a despicable thing to do.

He really wasn't making sense, ceejay. The issue he raised is now and will always be a potential concern. I don't see doctors doing that kind of stuff, though maybe I am naive.

Worse than that really is the doc who takes the elderly patient's family aside, talks THEM out of the procedure, and tells them he knows that they can convince their mother.

I have a very dear friend in Oregon. She has a Down syndrome daughter who is 20 years old, with cardiac insufficiency. She is not a candidate for a heart transplant, and so probably will not live another year. She contracted a MRSA skin infection. Miraculously, it stayed topical and did not (has not) entered her bloodstream. Stephanie had to pull out every stop and call in every debt in order to find a Christian doctor who would treat this poor child for this TREATABLE condition. Her regular doctors and her specialists would not treat her!!!! She was told, "This is a 'right to die state', and your daughter is going to die anyway, so let's just let this run its course." And, yes, she is on Medicaid, because she exhausted her medical insurance and reached the cap and no longer had medical insurance.

This weekend I received a newsletter in the mail from Congressman Pitts outlining his views on the current healthcare debate. In this "Update on Healthcare Reform", Congressman Pitts speaks about his principles for Health Reform. He acknowledges that "our health care system needs important reforms". Of the eight principles that he outlines, the following would be of interest to you ceejay:

-- Available to everyone - "No American should have to go without care when they need it. I also believe that America is a stronger country when individuals take responsibiity for themselves and their families. We have government health programs for those who have retired, served in the military or who are in need. No one else should be placed on a government-run plan."

-- No Denial of Care "No American should be told that he or she can't have the treatment a doctor prescribes. Denial of care because of a pre-existing condition is wrong. I support commonsense legislation to stop this from happening."

Worse than that really is the doc who takes the elderly patient's family aside, talks THEM out of the procedure, and tells them he knows that they can convince their mother.

I have a very dear friend in Oregon. She has a Down syndrome daughter who is 20 years old, with cardiac insufficiency. She is not a candidate for a heart transplant, and so probably will not live another year. She contracted a MRSA skin infection. Miraculously, it stayed topical and did not (has not) entered her bloodstream. Stephanie had to pull out every stop and call in every debt in order to find a Christian doctor who would treat this poor child for this TREATABLE condition. Her regular doctors and her specialists would not treat her!!!! She was told, "This is a 'right to die state', and your daughter is going to die anyway, so let's just let this run its course." And, yes, she is on Medicaid, because she exhausted her medical insurance and reached the cap and no longer had medical insurance.

Stephanie had to pull out every stop and call in every debt in order to find a Christian doctor who would treat this poor child for this TREATABLE condition. Her regular doctors and her specialists would not treat her!!!!

Everyone calm down! She looked for a Christian doctor for one reason only: she specifically looked for a pro-life doctor who opposes the "right to die" concept, and she knew because it is an ongoing polarizing issue among Oregonians that those who were helping her could find a doctor who had been vocal in his "all life is precious" position. Nothing more. Because speed of treatment is the crucial factor, she did what she knew to do to preserve the life of her child for as long as she could.

What's involved in treating MRSA? Could the original doc have thought the MRSA treatment could weaken the patient further causing a pre-mature death unrelated to her heart problem?

MRSA is a very serious staph infection that can cause many complications. Our former coroner Gary Kirchner MD contracted MRSA and is still suffering from the ill effects of this infection.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00...ECTION=symptoms


Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff [img]http://www.mayoclinic.com/images/nav/clear.gif[/img]
CLICK TO ENLARGE
[img]http://www.mayoclinic.com/images/image_popup/thumbs/ans7_staph_skinthu.jpg[/img] Photos of staph infections [img]http://www.mayoclinic.com/images/nav/clear.gif[/img] Staph skin infections, including MRSA, generally start as small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. These can quickly turn into deep, painful abscesses that require surgical draining. Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also penetrate into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.

As I suspected. That's quite different than, "Stephanie had to pull out every stop and call in every debt in order to find a Christian doctor who would treat this poor child for this TREATABLE condition". It was her choice and wasn't foisted upon her as you implied.

No, it isn't different at all! What in the world is wrong with you? She pulled out every stop in calling everyone she knew, including a few nurses working as administrators in the Medicaid system, in a scramble to find a doctor who would use INFUSIONS of abx to treat this TREATABLE condition! It certainly was her choice! Stay with the doctors and the facility that would not treat with IVs and allow the MRSA to progress to systemic and kill her daughter, or do whatever it took in a short amount of time to find the doc and the facility that would infuse.

That's some choice, mam. Which one would you make for your child???? And how happy would you be about having to go to those lengths????????????????????????????

You just have a funny way of telling stories Ceejay to be sure your point is made, whether the story is accurate or not. You implied that the doctor refused to treat the patient. That's what I was questioning because I don't believe that for one minute. He may have suggested to let MRSA run its course, but I seriously doubt he refused treatment. For goodness sakes, as Kate pointed out, Dr. Kirchner is still undergoing treatment for MRSA and I'm not aware of any other underlying problems Dr. Kirchner has like a weak heart. This has been over a year now I think that he's been dealing with this. So, the doc in your friend's case was probably quoting the stats that the treatment may not work before her child dies of her heart problems. Frustration with slow treatment may be worse for this patient (and her mother) than the actual treatment. But apparently, that wasn't the case. Your friend was only interested in working with so-called Christian doctors, whatever that means, because she didn't like her doctor giving her the truth. She did not HAVE to seek another doctor as you said, she CHOSE to seek another doctor.

You may obviously choose to believe whatever you wish. I PM'd Kate the Caringbridge website of my friend, but told her I would understand if she chose not to get involved. I would never post that information here as I would never expose Steph to the nastiness.

RachelJoy was refused treatment. She had been given an oral antibiotic. They cultured, found MRSA, the oral abx had no effect. Doctors would not order the inpatient or the day hospital IV/infusion treatments. Steph scrambled to find a right to life doctor. How interesting that that offends you.

You say, "giving her the truth". Seriously, do you know anything about Down Syndrome? About cardiac insufficiency? If your father had congestive heart failure or emphysema, was up and about, able to go places and do things, but he was on O2, would you be fine with a doctor refusing to treat flu complications or MRSA in him? After all, he is going to die anyway?

Worse than that really is the doc who takes the elderly patient's family aside, talks THEM out of the procedure, and tells them he knows that they can convince their mother.

I have a very dear friend in Oregon. She has a Down syndrome daughter who is 20 years old, with cardiac insufficiency. She is not a candidate for a heart transplant, and so probably will not live another year. She contracted a MRSA skin infection. Miraculously, it stayed topical and did not (has not) entered her bloodstream. Stephanie had to pull out every stop and call in every debt in order to find a Christian doctor who would treat this poor child for this TREATABLE condition. Her regular doctors and her specialists would not treat her!!!! She was told, "This is a 'right to die state', and your daughter is going to die anyway, so let's just let this run its course." And, yes, she is on Medicaid, because she exhausted her medical insurance and reached the cap and no longer had medical insurance.

I'll even give you a proposed out - what is involved in MRSA treatment (in non-medical terms please?). Could the treatment itself kill the patient - especially one with a bad heart? That would be the only case I could see a doctor refusing treatment - if the treatment itself was risky enough to kill an already weakened patient before she would die naturally of her bad heart.

So which is it?

I don't believe this for a minute! The fact that you state they had to find a CHRISTIAN doctor, tells me this is all about your agenda.

If the MRSA was on the skin, and NOT in her blood, the treatment would be ORAL antibiotics.