I snipped this from an article about the upcoming proceedings by Buffy Spencer in "The Republican". Buffy Spencer has been following the plight of Haleigh Poutre closely.
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Carhart accepted the proposal of Joseph A. Franco, who was appointed last month by Carhart to represent Haleigh's privacy rights, that the defense and prosecution can have all her medical records from about 15 providers from 1999 to the present.
All of those providers had been given notice of the hearing, but only representatives from three attended. There was no representative from Baystate Health System or the state Department of Social Services. Haleigh was taken to Baystate Medical Center after her initial hospitalization in Westfield.
The sensitive nature of the case showed in the specific parameters set by Carhart for who can see the records. Carhart denied Brandt's request to have a Westfield detective and a state police trooper see them.
~Snip~
Black said he would still like to argue his motion to change the venue.
Black said he is also requesting state Department of Social Services records for Samantha Poutre, 12, the child of Holly A. Strickland and Jonathan R. Poutre, whom she divorced before marrying Strickland.
"She's going to be a key witness in this case," he said. He said allegations of abuse of Samantha Poutre "popped up" about three months ago.
Brandt said that Jonathan R. Poutre had been given notice of Tuesday's hearing, which included the matter of Samantha's records. "He should be here today," Carhart said.
Court to assess Haleigh Poutre's competency
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THERE'S A MODERN FABLE written by Maurice Sendak in which an apathetic child named Pierre answers every question with the phrase, "I don't care." Eventually, Pierre responds that way when a hungry lion warns that he is about to eat him, and the young boy is promptly swallowed whole.
~Snip~
This should also be a concern for social conservatives. If government is the leading, or perhaps eventually the sole purchaser of health care, the state will be in the position of deciding who gets what kind of care--this is precisely how government-run systems control costs. The Terri Schiavo case was just a harbinger of the tragic scenarios that are likely to arise in the coming decades with the development of life-preserving technologies. It is quite easy to see how government control of the health-care system would put lawmakers in the awkward position of deciding who lives and dies in such situations by determining how long to pay the bills before pulling the plug...................
Learning to Care About Health Care
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