Me thinks the bar has been lowered.
Me thinks thou art correct.
This is an example of what inspired my tagline.
Posted on 04/07/2009 6:40:43 PM PDT by Chet 99
BATAVIA, Ohio, April 7 (UPI) -- A mentally disabled Ohio man suffering from terminal cancer has been removed from the respirator and feeding tube keeping him alive.
Ronnie Dragoo's sisters want their brother's life to end peacefully with as little pain as possible, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. But Cindy Dragoo of Miami, Ohio, and Donna Dragoo Theile of Newtonsville have no authority to make medical decisions for their brother because he is a ward of the state, so he remained on the respirator.
"I have prayed to God to have him die," Theile said. "No one deserves this."
The sisters said that their brother is unable to speak in full sentences.
"He doesn't know what dying means," Cindy Dragoo said.
Kathleen Rinto of Advocacy and Protective Services Inc., which has a contract with Ohio to serve as guardians for the mentally disabled, said that two doctors must sign off on decisions that could end someone's life and that the person must be in a coma or terminally ill, the newspaper said.
Ronnie Dragoo was moved to a different hospital where two doctors were willing to recommend taking him off life support. On Monday, the respirator and feeding tube were removed, and the doctors also signed a do-not-resuscitate order.
Ohio’s Terry Schiavo
“I have prayed to God to have him die,” ?
Remember it's not about health or care.
Just votes, unless you are one of the anointed ones in government.
Then it is about Health Care and being one of the critical members of the government that is “too important to fail”.
She was (or was alleged to be) in a vegetative state. This guy is merely retarded. Me thinks the bar has been lowered. Slippery slope ..
Terry Schiavo wasn’t suffering from terminal cancer.
Well shoot. Being born is fatal.
Don’t want relatives getting between him and the State of Ohio.
Me thinks the bar has been lowered.
Me thinks thou art correct.
This is an example of what inspired my tagline.
True.
So sad. My girls will have responsibility for their brother when I am gone. I hope I have taught them to respect life sufficiently.
“Don’t want relatives getting between him and the State of Ohio.”
As I read this, the relatives want him to pass easily. The state was trying to keep him hooked up to the respirator. (Yes, opposite of what normally is the case.) I wanted Terry’s family to prevail and allow her to remain being tube-fed. In this case, I am not so certain and I don’t know where the line is.
That’s a good approach. The whoel question revolving around Terry was whether her intent could be implied from some off-handed remark she made to her husband that was completely at odds with her professed faith.
I do living wills for people and it is the rare person who wants to ensure that everything possible must be done to keep him or her alive. On other other hand, they like about a three-pronged test of whether to pull the plug: (1) unconscious or vegetative state, (2) almost no chance of recovery to a sentient live, and (3) extent of life support needed to maintain life, including whether it would entail pain.
About fourteen months ago a dear friend chose to pull the plug. He had ALS and the paralysis had slowly crept up his body to his ear level. He could communicate only by his eyes and was totally dependent on respirator and tube feedings to live. He spent two years in this condition in a “rehabilitation” hospital as he shrank from perhaps 400 lbs to around 150 lbs (he was about 6’4”), a big, burly, lovable bear of a Finnish husband and father. He surprised his wife and the rest of us by requesting the respirator be removed in mid-December 2007. We were there with him at the time. He was surrounded by his family and friends, his ecclesiastical leader, doctors, nurses and therapists who respected him. There was no question that this was his choice, he knew what he was doing, and he was not afraid of death. It was, to use a very inadequate word, an awesome experience to watch him transition from this life to the next.
I oppose euthanasia and I don’t know how much this retarded man can know or appreciate, but I do have compassion for the sisters who see a terminally ill man maintained on a respirator in a hopeless condition. It was difficult enough for my friend to stay on the respirator, and he had full faculty of mind. It would be difficult to see that intrusive treatment for someone who could not understand why this was happening to him.
I sure don't understand Terrys husband. He seem to want her dead no matter what. A real crime. Her parents wanted to take care of her...If she were my daughter, I am afraid of what I would have done to that monster. And gone to jail happily...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
