Do you use cocaine? - THEN STAY OUT OF MY HOSPITAL

[my2sense]

Daily Kos
by betterdonkeys
Thu Dec 18, 2008 at 11:44:57 AM PST

By now, you have all seen this.

The Bush administration today issued a sweeping new regulation that protects a broad range of health-care workers -- from doctors to janitors -- who refuse to participate in providing services that they believe violate their personal, moral or religious beliefs.

The controversial rule empowers federal health officials to cut off federal funding for any state or local government, hospital, clinic, health plan, doctor's office or other entity if it does not accommodate employees who exercise their "right of conscience."

I am a physician. I am Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, and I am currently working as an Internist in a major, urban tertiary care center.

I would like to make an announcement.

If any of you reading this use cocaine, then STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY HOSPITAL.

Cocaine use is illegal. It is powerfully addictive. It can cause a heart attack or stroke, which may cause sudden death. But most importantly, the use of cocaine violates my personal, moral, and religious beliefs, and as such, I can no longer provide medical services to those of you that abuse cocaine.

Everybody got that? If you use cocaine and need the help of a physician on a Friday night, do NOT come into the emergency department where I am working. I will not help you, even though I am the only admitting physician in our hospital at 4 AM. Please take a moment from the middle of your dopaminergic crisis, and call ahead to ensure that I am not working, before you present to our hospital. It's the least that you can do, to ensure that my personal and moral beliefs are not violated.

For that matter, any of you that shoot heroin, you're implicated too. Stay the HELL away from my hospital. Crystal meth? GET OUT. In fact, any of you that have a positive urine toxicology screen for any illicit substance? Please be advised that as soon as your little habit is revealed, I will be immediately signing off on your case. If this happens in the middle of the night and no other physician is available for 12 hours, then oh fucking well. That's what you get for violating all that I perceive as good and pure.

Gotta string you stoners up, too. After all, for many excellent reasons, marijuana is illegal, and as such it violates my - what is it again? - right, my "right of conscience."

While we're at it. Prisoners, you're on my shit list. If you're in prison, then this usually means that you have committed a crime. Crimes are illegal. And as such, crime violates my sense of (everybody, say it with me!) personal, moral and religious beliefs. As such, prisoners are no longer eligible to receive medical care by yours truly. Bloodless heathens.

And all of you that have been in car accidents? You have probably been either speeding or drinking. Speeding and drinking under the influence are both illegal. No care for you.

And don't get me started on all of the PERFECTLY LEGAL rights and privileges (including some that have been guaranteed to you by the Supreme Court) that are going to get the scalpel. A bunch of you guys are about to be disqualified from my care, too.

Specifically: all of you African-Americans, gay-Americans, Jew-Americans, Muslim-Americans, women-Americans, poor-Americans, uninsured-Americans, and especially all of you foreigners - I will no longer be providing medical care to you, either. Today, I am hereby permitted to hide behind my 19th-century prejudices, under the premise that providing care to you violates my "personal beliefs."

Everybody got that? STAY OUT OF MY HOSPITAL, you ingrates.

What?

Say that again?

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug...

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know...

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

-Hippocratic Oath, Modern Version. Excerpts.

Wait a second. Do you actually mean to tell me that everything I just said violates the oath that I took when I finished medical school?

Oh.

OBLIGATORY UPDATE: This is my first time on the recommended list. I just called my Mom, and told her that she HAD to see this. :-) Thank you!

DOUBLE OBLIGATORY: Top of the recommended list??? Wow. Thanks everyone.

ONE MORE: h/t Casey, who I think has the comment of the thread below:

No one person should be let to suffer with an ailment when a doctor stands readily by. Indeed, it is a travesty and inhumane, especially given the career choice of the individual who refuses treatment to the patient.

Exactly. EXACTLY. That's our anthem on this moving forward.

[Divine Discontent]

1. gives grounds to say no to AIDS patients & those with infectious diseases if they so choose

and literally, leave the door open for someone seeing two women coming in and hearing that one's partner is vomiting and running a fever of 104, and denying them care because they're sexuality is against someone's religion.


God help us - B*sh doesn't want to go out without unleashing absolute HELL ON EARTH...

[Froward69]

52. you said it

focus... anger is a waste of time. Action is what is called for.


FUCK BUSH!!! he cannot be gone soon enough...

[Indenturedebtor]

84. Don't forget "the gheys" I am morally opposed to allowing them there homos to breathe

What a disgusting disgrace pretzledent fuckstick has turned out to be :puke:

[aggiesal]

99. Why stop at hospitals? ...

What happens when the police, fire department or ambulance service, receives a call from any group
that violates their "right of conscience."?

So if the police department receives a call from Muslim/Americans, well we won't respond to that call.

Or if the fire department receives a call from a neighborhood that's predominately african/american, we'll just let it burn.

Or if the ambulance service receives a call from a jewish/american family, oops, we're already busy.


This has major problems written all over the place.

[Fumesucker]

2. K&R... well said.

[depakid]

3. I am a scientologist- no mental health care for you!

[sam sarrha]

4. i just a sociopath with a bad attitude... i don't need no F'n excuse to hate and abuse people

[Fovea]

97. How does that song go from "Little Shop of Horrors"

"You could be a dentist
You have a talent for causing things pain.
You could be a dentist.
People will pay you to be inhumane."

You know, I did CPR over 300 times in my twelve years in medicine.
Don't recall ever asking them about their moral rectitude or political affiliation.

Even saved a couple.
One of them went on to murder a mother and child for money.
Several were doubtless Republicans.

Don't go down the road of being a moral equivalent of the gods.
Their f'in job is to heal the sick and injured.
They signed up to leave their cheap ass opinions at the door.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Terrific Post, Jazzy!

A great read; heartfelt and wise.
GAC

[malaise]

6. Super post

K & R

[sam sarrha]

7. this is just to empower the evangelical Dominionist Talaban.., >link>.>

really.. i am not kidding, the Nazi's are scared shitless of these guys

http://doggo.tripod.com/doggchrisdomin.html
"..snip...This article is the documented story of how a political religious movement called Dominionism gained control of the Republican Party, then took over Congress, then took over the White House, and now is sealing the conversion of America to a theocracy by taking over the American Judiciary. It’s the story of why and how 'the wrath of God Almighty' will be unleashed against the middle class, against the poor, and against the elderly and sick of this nation by George W. Bush and his army of Republican Dominionist “rulers.”

As Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court explained a few months later, the Bible teaches and Christians believe '… that government …derives its moral authority from God. Government is the "minister of God" with powers to "revenge", to "execute wrath", including even wrath by the sword…
...snip"

"snip...Leo Strauss was born in 1899 and died in 1973. ... He is most famous for resuscitating Machiavelli and introducing his principles as the guiding philosophy of the neo-conservative movement. ... More than any other man, Strauss breathed upon conservatism, inspiring it to rise from its atrophied condition and its natural dislike of change and to embrace an unbounded new political ideology that rides on the back of a revolutionary steed, hailing even radical change; hence the name Neo-Conservatives.

Significantly, Dominionism is a form of Social Darwinism.<48> It inherently includes the religious belief that wealth-power is a sign of God’s election. That is, out of the masses of people and the multitude of nations, wealth, in and of itself, is thought to indicate God’s approval on men and nations whereas poverty and sickness reflect God’s disapproval.

(It was not until I read this article that I realized that this is a fundamental tenet of Dominionists.

Worldly wealth and power are signs of God's favor -- to attempt to limit or decrease one's wealth and power is to disrespect God.

On the contrary, God's elect on Earth are called upon to increase their wealth and power.

It is not sufficient for a man to be a millionaire, or for a country to have sovereignty within its borders -- a man must strive to increase his wealth as much as possible, and a Dominionist government's behavior toward its neighbors must be "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity".

Furthermore, any attempt to decrease a person's or a country's wealth and power -- to take from the rich to give to the poor, to reduce military spending and power -- is a direct attack on God.)

If “Secular Humanists are the greatest threat to Christianity the world has ever known,” as theologian Francis Schaeffer claimed, then who are the Humanists? According to Dominionists, humanists are the folks who allow or encourage licentious behavior in America. They are the undisciplined revelers.

Put all the enemies of the Dominionists together, boil them down to liquid and bake them into the one single most highly derided and contaminated individual known to man, and you will have before you an image of the quintessential “liberal” -- one of those folks who wants to give liberally to the poor and needy -- who desires the welfare and happiness of all Americans -- who insists on safety regulations for your protection and who desires the preservation of your values -- those damnable people are the folks that must be reduced to powerlessness -- or worse: extinction. ...snip"


......this explanes why the ReThuglicans dogmattically give tax cuts to the Rich.. its a sin to gad to tax a rich man. yes folks, there is a reason for the Seperation of Church and State.

[newtothegame]

8. We've been heading down this road...

of over-protecting everyone's personal beliefs for a long time and most DU'ers thought it was a good thing.

[4 t 4]

10. The Bush administration

will continue to destroy this country right up the the very last day.

[T Wolf]

32. Beyond the last day, with all the crap they are pulling with burrowing party hacks and

ideologues into the governmental structure and the midnight "laws" and regulations they are dumping into the system at the eleventh hour.

Even if Obama wanted to do something constructive (from my perspective), he would have his hands tied pretty tightly.

With his "go slow, if at all" agenda for bringing about change, he will be fighting extra hard for very minimal improvement.

[20score]

9. K&R.

[geckosfeet]

11. The bUSh administration continues to set the national stage for class,

religious and personal belief warfare. The man is a divisive imbecile of the worst kind. I do not own enough shoes to be able to demonstrate the repulsive feelings that I have for him and his ilk.

[csziggy]

12. Sanjay Gupta on CNN this morning said there is no limit on who this policyy affects

He said it extends to janitors, not just medical personnel. So a janitor, insurance clerk, billing coordinator, scheduling clerk, whoever, could refuse service for any bullshit reason.

Don't like smokers - refuse them. Don't like fat people - refuse them. Have a moral objection to any medication or procedure, refuse to clean the room that patient is in. This is insane.

Insurance companies should be up in arms about this - I can see this policy leading to all kinds of situations that can lead to lawsuits. US medical care is already the most expensive in the world for near third world treatment for many people. Now it not just be financially determined by insurance coverage, it will be religiously determined by the perceived morality of a patient and their choices.

<b>This is insane.</b>

[volstork]

13. As a fellow physician

all I can say is, "Well done!"

[myrna minx]

14. Excellent. K&R n/t

:applause:

[FloridaJudy]

15. Not so far off the mark...

I've actually heard some MDs bitch about having to care for alcoholics and smokers saying "It's their own damned fault they're sick". They resent the obese as well. Got a health problem? Unless you've were struck by a meteor while jogging, it's your fault: you ate the wrong food, you didn't exercise enough, you didn't take your meds correctly, you ingested substances that weren't good for you, you had sex with the wrong partner, you've driven the wrong car, you've taken the wrong job, etc.

None of those things is good for us, of course, but unless you've spent the last twenty years in a monastery, chances are you've done one of more of them.

The insurance industry opened the door to your being denied care. Now Bu$h has thrown it wide open.

[Patiod]

20. Hit by a meteor while JOGGING?

Isn't that just asking for knee, hip and shin issues?

[Scully]

24. Maybe that should be amended....

.... I agree, Patiod- if you're hit by a meteor while jogging, you were asking for trouble anyhow.

Maybe it should say "hit by a meteor whilst praying in an ergonomically correct fashion (no more bended knee!) to the god of the treating doctor, nurse, admitting clerk, insurance clerk, and ambulance driver's choice". And you're just SOL if everyone doesn't agree!

[WinkyDink]

74. Yeah, like no doctors are fat bas****s who smoke, eat red meat, and have an STD.

[mduffy31]

92. That reminds me

Before I went in and had my Lap-Band installed, the surgeon, the anestheologist, and the CRNA all were fat like me. Most of the nurses that I work with are all overweight, including me before I had the procedure.

[Ilsa]

87. As a nurse, can I refuse to provide care to Rick Warren because he's

an overweight homophobe?

[Laelth]

16. Argument ad absurdum. Very effective. k&r n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Hepburn]

17. How about this from a health care person: "Excuse me, but Evangels offend...

...my moral compass and therefore, I will no longer admister care to any Evangels."

Hmmm....wonder if that would be included in Bush's bullshit? :shrug:

[dapper]

18. Stupid Conservatives! No OPERATION FOR YOU!

I'm kidding but just imagine the reasons we may see why we cannot get health care or drugs!

Dapper

[KamaAina]

19. You don't work at Crawford General, do you?

Bush** would be soooo screwn... :P

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. What if I smoke a little pot once in awhile?

Can I come to your hospital?

[YOY]

26. He clearly says "no."

n/t

[my2sense]

39. only if you don't inhale

:sarcasm:

[Trillo]

22. I presume this is satire,

but then I've always been naive. I always knew there was a reason so many doctors donated to the Republicans during Bush's decade, and so many hospitals employ jack-booted thugs to harass patients and their visitors.

[Stargazer09]

23. K&R! Very well said!

Thank you for posting this.

[dorkulon]

25. K&R Excellent post. /nt

[CitizenPatriot]

27. Glad you posted this

I wondered why we heard nary a peep about it here -- and one of my major concerns was that this violated the HO. How can a doctor/nurse/etc vow to help people if they are going to make moral judgments?

In the next month, there will be many people denied treatment. People going with birth control. In a very red area, you're going to see people possibly dying because treatment has been refused.

I remain every incredulous and still outrage-overloaded by *.

Hang on, people...and try very, very hard not to get sick or in an accident or raped or beaten or have an ectopic pregnancy which is going to kill you if it isn't removed, etc. And if you do, well, be a good little soldier and dress up like straight, white Republican. It's our only hope of treatment, apparently. The next month is going to be scary.

Edited to add: I just found this on Huff Po. Is this accurate?

"Although about 200,000 letters of opposition rolled in, the administration made only technical changes to the rule (PDF). When it becomes law in 30 days, any worker, trainee or volunteer from health insurance companies to podiatry schools will be emboldened to refuse to participate in tasks that offend their conscience.

The regulation singles out abortion and dismisses the notion that health-care workers would be empowered to deny care to immigrants, AIDS patients or sex-change seekers."

[my2sense]

41. I'll check it out-I pulled this off of DailyKos this morning n/t

[varelse]

28. K&R

I agree with the poster upthread who said this:

"The insurance industry opened the door to your being denied care. Now Bu$h has thrown it wide open."

I'm pretty sure a bottom line for someone in Bush's "haves and have-mores" base, has more to do with this decision than his considerations for any "personal belief system" among us working stiffs.

[PatSeg]

29. You summed up the issue beautifully!

Once people go down that path, the possibilities are frighteningly endless!

[lelgt60]

30. Do you use alcohol? then STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY HOSPITAL

This is typical war on drugs bullshit.

If you're so hot on eliminating things that might impair a doctor, why don't you start with the drug that is most likely to be abused?

[moggie]

64. Way to miss the point, Einstein n/t

[lelgt60]

79. Oops! - Sometime reading real fast doesn't work n/t

[Incitatus]

82. delete

[HubertHeaver]

31. And I don't believe in capital punishment so you convicts stay

out of my death-house.

[XOKCowboy]

33. Happy to recommend...

and give the 99th rec. Oaths mean nothing to Republicans any more. I hope that this gets overturned when Obama takes office.

[Mimosa]

34. Isn't the reg only about abortion?

Catholic (or any other faith) doctors and nurses should not be forced to participate in providing abortion services. Jazzy. not all MDs or health care workers agree with you.

If people need information regarding abortion services I don't know a single doctor or PA who wouldn't refer a patient. They just don't want to participate.

[yardwork]

40. No healthcare worker is ever, ever required to provide abortion services.

This new regulation goes much, much further.

[my2sense]

42. I hope you are right - but I'd prefer not to have to take a

chance on another human beings moral compass for when I can receive care. It may be an emergency procedure where I don't have time to "shop around".

[MountainLaurel]

50. No, it's not limited

So if your ER doctor thinks you should pray away your demons rather than trying Haldol, that's A-OK.

[Betsy Ross]

35. K&R! n/t

[proReality]

36. K&R n/t

[yardwork]

37. I'm queer and I've decided that straight people don't deserve health care.

My religion - which I started recently - says that straight people are all damned to hell and I'll be damned too if I help them.

Sorry. It's not that I don't love you all - I do, really! - but my hands are tied. My religion says so.

[TommyO]

38. I am gay, no health care for hypocritical, bigoted Christians

So sayeth TommyO.

[glitch]

43. If you really want to get the attention of bushbots make it VIAGRA nt.

[puebloknot]

47. There will be an exception for Repugs who want to maintain ...

... their permanent hard-on!

[glitch]

71. Well, if it keeps them from starting wars then ok. nt

[puebloknot]

76. Good, clear point, well made. Not hard to understand at all! nt

[glitch]

78. Chickenhawks get hardons for war, so if we let them have viagra they won't need war, see?

Well, it probably wouldn't work anyway.

[my2sense]

44. Here is the link to the story on the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/18/AR2008121801556.html?nav=rss_email%2Fcomponents

[anonymous171]

45. So could an atheist doctor refuse to treat theist patients?

[my2sense]

59. looks like it

[flvegan]

46. If you eat meat, eggs or dairy, or wear leather, stay the hell outta mine.

I also won't use any medicines ever tested on animals. I won't use any medical/surgical procedure that was perfected on animals.

Ooooh, it's fun being ridiculous.

[nichomachus]

48. Does this mean that I could refuse to treat a "Christian" woman having her ninth kid

Since I consider that kind of breeding immoral?

[Froward69]

53. ooohhh good one!!!

[Richard D]

49. Some doctors are strict vegetarians . . .

. . . so no meat eaters in their hospitals or clinics.

[Froward69]

51. #124th

:thumbsup:

[nc4bo]

54. #127 - this is a nightmare waiting to happen.

Need a triple bypass - no, can't have one. You kept eating those Hardee Big Burgers even though you were warned they were clogging your arteries. You were committing suicide throughout your years, a sin against GOD.

Need a kidney transplant - no, at 60 years old you are too old to benefit from it and the kidney would best be given to the 59 year old nun.

Need cataracts removed - no, can't have one just because of some religious bullshit I pulled out of my ass when I first saw your face (Jesus wasn't in your eyes).

Hell No. No No NO. WTF is wrong with this stupid piece of shit of lameassduck fuck president??!!

[valerief]

55. I guess it's now within the law to refuse to service war criminals, too.

Wouldn't it be nice (yes, nice) if during Cheney's next heart attack, the doctor protected his or her own rights to personal beliefs?

[my2sense]

60. Now that would be some Karma for his ass

[sellitman]

56. How fast will this law be swept to the garbage bin along with chimpy?

I cannot imagine this law will stand for more than seconds after the Inauguration.

[my2sense]

61. From what I've read Obama cannot

overturn it with an executive order. HRC & others have drafted legislation to overturn it - but it looks like he could be a lengthy process.

[sellitman]

Miserable mother effer

Yet I still know people that WORSHIP the ground he walks on.

Amazing!

[judasdisney]

57. But don't call Republicans fascist. That's uncouth.

[windoe]

58. The centers on disease control would have their hands full then....

with all the potentially unchecked contagious infections and conditions which would thrive if not treated. This is insanity and cannot be standard medical practice.

[Autonomy]

62. As a user

and having no other particular claims to being an oppressed minority, might I suggest, LEGALIZE IT!!!

I am sick of buying off the streets. I could function a lot better were it not for the laws pushing me into the hands of sociopathic dealers. I am a highly educated, mostly-functional member of society. I could do a lot better if I had better choices. Illegality of a substance is NEVER a condition of my own personal action. It is as if the law crosses me, not vice versa.

I did a couple days in jail a few weeks ago. At one point, I was the only white guy in a cell with 30 black men. At no point did I feel threatened at all. I've been in jail before. There is ALWAYS an overwhelming number of black men in there with me. Only the COs are abusive.

This time, one of my cellies said, "I wish I was white, then maybe someone would come and bail me out."

Then he said, "Nah, I am glad I am black."

I was just glad someone was coming to bail me out.

None of these guys did anything worse than I did. None of them, from what I could tell, were societal predators. They all, or most, came from what we call "the ghetto".

I am not under the illusion that lifestyle does not present a signifincant factor in the jailing of black men. It does. But the point that liberals must accept is that our choice, as addicts, is not much more than the choice of the GLBT community that we champion. If you want me to ask me about me personal experience on this matter of choice, feel free, but please do so respectfully.

I do not mean to wander across topics. I did not mean to post about this subject EVER on this website. I am currently employed in a company that requires Top Secret security clearance for its employees (yes, such a thing exists, for those who don't know).

It's just time we recognize the next level of persons who are who they are, and reject calls, based on 19th century moralism, that what we are is simply a matter of choice.

I know I was born this way. I could do a lot better in a society that was more accepting of me. Not all addicts are thieves and sociopaths. Some are turned into that. Some, like me, resist it, no matter the cost to ourselves.

Thanks for reading my first ultra-personal diatribe on DU. After all these years.


edit to add: I've been denied medical care on occasion, and been ridiculed by medical staff at hospitals. The fact is, I might never have been there in the first place were it not for legalisms. I am not a narcotics addict, so I've never had to deal with overdose. My major medical issue tends to be the result of a sweeping judgmentalism. But that might be just for me. I cannot speak for anyone else.

[Autonomy]

63. self delete

[beac]

65. I hope that the next doctor who is called to treat Cheney for one of his heart troubles or

Bush for whenever he next chokes on a snack food, says that their 'right of conscience' prevents them from giving medical assistance to a war criminal.

[agincourt]

66. You voted for Bush,

or any other conservative. Hell no! I won't give you medical care.

[Dennis Donovan]

67. Recommended. This sets a dangerous precedent...

:thumbsdown:

[surrealAmerican]

68. Nicely put. They're blissfully ignorant of the implications of the ...

... laws they write. Just wait until these people are denied their pain-killers by some doctor who doesn't "believe" in prescribing them or a pharmacist who will refuse to dispense them.

[Frisbee]

69. Now if you were only withholding treatment from...

repukes due to "right of conscience", I doubt you could raise an argument here. :rofl:

[SemperEadem]

70. this ruling is basically saying that it it ok to practice medicine without a license.

[OwnedByFerrets]

72. What a powerful statement. Thank you so very much.

[BeatleBoot]

73. If you choose to use cocaine

Can my daughter go ahead of you in the emergency room if she is having a seizure?

My daughter didn't choose to have a seizure, but you chose to ingest a drug.

My daughter wants to live, but isn't given a choice.

You choose cocaine and, on top of it, want help.

You have every right to receive help.

But the diabetic, the schizophrenic, the one's with Addisons Disease, the cancer patient...

All of those who didn't want it...

All come before you.

You chose cocaine.

You chose the back of the line.

[WinkyDink]

75. Well, at least now I'd have legal grounds never to treat Bush or Cheney!

[jeff30997]

77. Great post.

K&R and fuck all those ignorant bigoted idiots.Everybody have the right to health care.

[stlsaxman]

80. Rec #179

... and counting!

:fistbump:

[nannah]

81. many people are turned away from medical care

People with cancer; people with broken bones; people with complex diagnosis are also turned away from medical care unless the can show how they can pay. It happens every day. I know this because i am a social worker who helps people access health care. i have been doing this for 17 years. many people are denied access to health care because they can not show how they will pay.

[DK666]

83. A different spin

Do you have to treat republicans or could you reject them on based on personal, moral and religious beliefs ?

I work in Economic development and education when will they allow us to do this also. I really hate it when we have to help a company that we know is going to outsource the product.


Cheers,

DK-

[FREEWILL56]

85. I have several comments and points to bring out here on the subject.

This doesn't surprise me from this administration, but I must point out that bush isn't doing all of this by himself. Those in the House and the Senate, not to mention our wonderful Judiciary branch, all need to wake the fuck up with few exceptions as common sense and peace has been replaced by chaos and death. Yes, bush and his neopukes (new name I made up and I like it) push this crap, but guess who has been funding and supporting all of this with passing of absurd laws and making all of georgey-porgy's dreams come true?

This can backlash on bush as doctors would now be able to refuse bush treatment and not just any patient while they throw out the oaths that they took that promotes humaneness and some fairness in health.

I might throw into the mix that insurance companies are partying right now with this news as any refused treatments are also treatments these greedy bastards won't have to pay for, even though the patient may have paid for the medical insurance.

While I'm at it, it seems to me that Dr. Jack Kevorkian also was just following his conscious and beliefs and he went to prison for them. It is now a matter of convenient interpretation with the bottom line of the patients', and thus the American citizenry, are getting screwed again with the blessings of the majority of those in government.

I fear that IF Obama really has the wish to change things, and by that I mean reverse all of the damages where possible that bush has done and all he corrupted, that the rest of the government may still want what bush wants. Even if this government would want those changes too, I fear that 8 years is not enough time to make the repairs needed and mind you that nobody can bring back the dead due to the fault of many assholes and not just bush.

Edited to add that I am beyond disgusted.

[Ilsa]

86. And OBs don't have to deliver babies of those slutty unmarried

women with loose morals like Bristol Palin.

This regulation is bullshit.

[tavalon]

88. Well put!

[ooglymoogly]

89. This deserves a big boot up the hill....nt

[Lucian]

90. A great big K&R.

[MadMaddie]

91. Fantastic!

The irony is the Republicans are always so short sighted aren't they? It has never crossed their mind that this ruling will impact their own lives.

Let's say Ole * needs medical attention, an anti-war crimanal attending physician could say * I can't provide medical care to you because you are a war criminal.


K & R

[denisrobert]

93. Here's how to kill this

As an atheist, I could:

1. Take a job at an insurance company (already done)
2. Systematically reject any claims by any Christian, because of my moral objection to Christianity.

This would be entirely legal under the rules the Bush administration just put in effect, and my employer *COULD NOT FIRE ME FOR IT*

It goes both ways, you see, and it's not limited to people directly involved in the health industry; it involves ANYONE even remotely related to the health industry.

[whistle]

94. The same holds true for men with erectile dysfunction and overdoses of Viagra

....badda boom!

[JackDragna]

95. This is the new Jim Crow for the Christian right.

Unbelievable. If Obama doesn't overturn this, it'll be a gross injustice.

Excellent post.

[JackDragna]

96. Delete this.

Stupid computer. :)

[liberalhistorian]

98. I remember my former FEMALE gynecologist

saying outright, when we were discussing the explosion of breast cancer cases, and especially in younger women (two of my high school classmates had just been diagnosed with breast cancer in their late 30's and it was frightening to me), "we're paying for what we've allowed with abortions and birth control. We're paying for that and we're going to continue to pay." She was still obsessed with the long-discredited study correlating breast cancer with abortions, and was convinced that God was increasing breast cancer due to allowing abortions and birth control. When a patient at the practice where she worked was diagnosed with breast cancer, she checked their charts to see if they'd had an abortion in the past or had used birth control pills. I fucking kid you not. I couldn't believe it.

Notice, I said my FORMER gynecologist.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

100. So now the Ku Klux Klan has it's own hospital....

I wonder if they will still have "off white" employees mopping their floors and stuff.


















:hide: :sarcasm: needed ??

[AnnieBW]

101. A pharmacist who is a Scientologist could refuse to fill prescriptions

for anti-depressants.

This could get ugly REAL fast.

[splashy]

102. Kick and would recommend if I could. n/t