Quote:
Originally Posted by davidmash
There are only so many beds and so much care to go around. We sentence people to death every day in this country. Insurance companies deny care, available organs are given to one person and not another, and the list goes on. Now people are wringing their hands because someone wants to end their own life?
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Correct. Go into any nursing home or assisted-living facility and you'll see many if not most of the residents wearing DNR bracelets. DNR="do not resuscitate." If one of those people stops breathing, the care staff will take no action to bring them back, even though lifesaving measures are probably just a step or two away.
The designation is part of the admission process in my state. The patient is asked if they want resuscitation, and the answer often is "no."
BTW, a lot of the patients have a designated power of attorney for health care to a guardian, and in that case, it's the "greedy" relative who makes the decision whether lifesaving care should be denied.