Coronavirus: Do Not Resuscitate

Last night, a friend sent me this text message:

I was just told by a nurse that many hospitals across the country have issued Do Not Resuscitate orders for coronavirus patients. People need to check their local hospitals to see which ones have issued this order.

Nothing like tossing the Hippocratic Oath out the window!

It just so happens, another friend send me an article from the Washington Post on Do Not Resuscitate orders. 

It begins with:

Hospitals on the front lines of the pandemic are engaged in a heated private debate over a calculation few have encountered in their lifetimes — how to weigh the “save at all costs” approach to resuscitating a dying patient against the real danger of exposing doctors and nurses to the contagion of coronavirus. 

The conversations are driven by the realization that the risk to staff amid dwindling stores of protective equipment — such as masks, gowns and gloves — may be too great to justify the conventional response when a patient “codes,” and their heart or breathing stops. 

Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago has been discussing a do-not-resuscitate policy for infected patients, regardless of the wishes of the patient or their family members — a wrenching decision to prioritize the lives of the many over the one. 

Richard Wunderink, one of Northwestern’s intensive-care medical directors, said hospital administrators would have to ask Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for help in clarifying state law and whether it permits the policy shift.

“It’s a major concern for everyone,” he said. “This is something about which we have had lots of communication with families, and I think they are very aware of the grave circumstances.”

Like one of my friends said, check your local hospitals to see which of them issued this order.

To read more, go here.

The Party of Infanticide

The Democrat Party has given up the pretense of not being in favor of baby-killing. This is mind-boggling. They are the party of infanticide.

The Federalist reported:

When asked about the controversial late term abortion bill presented in Virginia’s House of Delegates this week, Governor Ralph Northam said a fully developed child born in the third trimester would be kept alive, but the physician and mother would get to discuss and decide whether to take its life or not. 

“If a mother is in labor…the infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother,” Northam said on WTOP’s “Ask The Governor” segment this morning. 

The radio host, Julie Carey, did not bother to clarify what he meant by “resuscitated” or whether this meant mother and a doctor could choose to kill a baby after birth, a baby who would have just taken their first breath.

Why mince words? The Democrat Party is the party of legalized murder. There's no stopping them. If they are willing to kill "unwanted" babies, are senior citizens next? Remember ObamaCare "death panels"?

To read more, go here. 

Medi-Cal/ObamaCare's "Death Panel Of One" and Catch-22

Full Definition of CATCH-22

1:  a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule <the show-business catch–22—no work unless you have an agent, no agent unless you've worked — Mary Murphy>; also :  the circumstance or rule that denies a solution

           2        a :  an illogical, unreasonable, or senseless situation

b :  a measure or policy whose effect is the opposite of what was intended  

          c :  a situation presenting two equally undesirable alternatives

3:  a hidden difficulty or means of entrapment :  catch

My roomie, Jes, is facing a real-life Catch-22 with her hospitalization for liver failure brought on by the prescribed drug, methotrexate. Unless she gets a liver transplant, she only has weeks to live. She is only 33.

She was prescribed this drug due to a skin disorder three years ago. It is a very powerful drug and, as it turns out, can damage vital organs and cause nerve damage.

Her doctor said that the methotrexate caused the damaged liver, not alcohol.

Herein lies the problem. As she had a history of alcohol abuse (she had a DUI four years ago), Medi-Cal (her medical insurer) assigned a "death panel" of one, a Dr. Knealer who said that because of this (and the fact that she had two glasses of champagne on New Year's) her placement on the transplant list has to be deferred until she completes six months of Alcoholics Anonymous classes. This is despite that she completed nine months of AA classes last July. They disregard that as they consider her to have "relapsed" from drinking two glasses of champagne. This is, according to Medi-Cal, is a rule brought on by the Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare) that governs Medi-Cal!

Here's the Catch-22: She does not have six months. Even if she did, she is too ill to leave the hospital. Also, the hospital will not allow AA classes in her hospital room. 

So, what the hell are we supposed to do?!

At present, her doctors are appealing Dr. Knealer's ruling. Hopefully, Dr. Knealer will see the stupidity of his ruling and allow Jes to be placed on the transplant list. Keep in mind that our dispute is with Medi-Cal, not the hospital. The hospital has been nothing less than wonderful.

We are exploring other means of getting Dr. Knealer to reverse his ruling. One possibility is to go to court and get an emergency order to force Medi-Cal to put Jes on the transplant list. Another is to force them to reverse their decision through media pressure. This blog post is only the beginning. I will be contacting media representatives shortly.

In any case, we don't have any time to waste. We have been told that another patient is under the same Catch-22 problem.

Thankfully, I have an excellent attorney friend who has given us some great advice, who summed our situation up this way:

If I understand Jes' situation properly, you guys are literally betting on her living that long to see if Medi-Cal changes their bureaucratic pea-brained minds. Why should they? They have no incentive to do so without a push. It saves them money and paperwork to deny her the benefits. They don't care whether she lives or dies - she's a number to them, not a person.  Did you ever watch "Erin Brockovich?"  That took place in my area, and that is a good example of how the big companies will bank on just waiting, since they can afford to, until the person dies or whatever happens.  Jes is not one iota closer to fulfilling what they claim she needs while she is in the hospital, yet she can't come out of the hospital. That is Catch-22.  The only way in which companies give in and pay out is by pressure and repeatedly bugging them. That is not on the hospital - it is on Medi-Cal. And the more mired we become in the Obamacare state of being, the more people who will not get the help they need from here on out.

You would be a great help to our cause if you would pass on this blog post to any media contacts you may have!

UPDATE (3/12/14):
Medi-Cal denied the Jes's doctors's appeal and won't change their position on listing Jes for a transplant and there's no more appeals. We will need to go to Superior Court to get an emergency order to force them.

UPDATE (3/15/14):
I received word yesterday that Jes is "doing better" and is to be released from the hospital next week. While it is nice to have her back home again, I am concerned that this release is the hospital's way of throwing their hands up in the air as Medi-Cal refuses to approve her to be listed for a liver transplant. I will find out more this weekend. Thankfully, we have the "machinery" necessary to pursue an emergency court order to get her listed.

March Already?! We May Be Up Against A Medi-Cal "Death Panel"

Where the heck did the month of February go?

It seems like only yesterday that I was celebrating my birthday and, a few days later, I was headed off to Japan for visit number 7. I don't know how lucky the 7th visit turned out to be since I was stuck for 16 hours inside a Keisei Line train car in Chiba Prefecture due to snow. I guess it could have been worse, my fellow passengers and I could have frozen to death.

The days still went by pretty fast after I got back, only slowed by a lingering headcold that I caught from a co-worker.

March will be no less busy as I have to concentrate on two things: first, getting rid of the aforementioned cold and, second, seeing that my roomie Jes get past the hurdles Medi-Cal has thrown up so she can be listed for a liver transplant. I found out today from her father that Medi-Cal won't approve a transplant unless she takes a six-month Alcoholics Anonymous program first. WTF?! According to Jes's dad, this was told to him by a Medi-Cal doctor.

If they think we're going to roll over on this, they don't know what they're in for. As her dad said:

So the transplant surgeon is going to call that [expletives deleted] doctor at Medi-Cal to enlighten him on Jess's condition and try to change his mind.

I am so pissed off, just pissed off.  If this SOB doesn't change his mind I will try every way possible to get FOX News knocking at his door asking if he is Obama's death panel.

Alcohol has nothing to do with this matter as her doctor told her father two weeks ago that the liver failure stems from prescribed methotrexate. So this is totally bogus. (Methotrexate is one powerful and nasty drug, so I'd think hard about using it if prescribed.)

According to her father, this is directly tied to (you'd never guess) Obamacare!

Well, she doesn't have six months, she may not even have six weeks. This is totally insane! The transplant has to be done on an urgent basis.

Her father and I (as her primary caregiver) will deal with this head-on Monday. Your prayers for a successful outcome are appreciated.

UPDATE: I have already contacted several "media giants" on this matter, ones with nice, big microphones!