Text 10955, 85 rader
Skriven 2005-04-02 21:21:00 av TIM RICHARDSON (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av VERN HUMPHREY
Ärende: Bo Gritz
================
On 04-02-05, VERN HUMPHREY said to JOHN HULL:


JH>Also, did you see my post on how these things played out BEFORE medical
JH>technology made it possible to keep someone alive who was NOT aware?


VH>I did -- but that's not really relevant.  People used to die of things
VH>that are easily cured today.  Would withholding, say penecillin from a
VH>child with pneumonia be acceptable today?


That depends.


There was a local case about 18 or 20 years back, where a young girl (about 15
I seem to recall) had something that was easily treatable with medication.


Her parents refused to allow her to be prescribed the medication that would
have controlled her condition (some thyroid problem, I think), or allow a
physician to examine and treat her.


Without the medication and treatment, death was the only alternative, and
within a very short time (it was a few months, I think).


There was no reason for that child to die (she died without any child
protective services johnny-on-the-spot taking her into custody and having her
given medical treatment). She could have been alive today but for the lack of
any interference on the part of the authorities in this county.


Her parents should have been prosecuted for deliberate neglect, which led to
the death of a minor child. They were not. They weren't even arrested.


That to my mind was criminal neglect. Not just on the part of the parents, but
the county and state authorities as well.


These parents claimed membership in some silly-assed religious group who did
not believe in modern medical science. Only their `religion' was going to heal
their daughter. If she died, that was the will of God.


I wasn't so much outraged at the parents. On-camera, the two of them came
across as individuals you would expect to see at a membership meeting of `flat
Earthers', or standing with packed suitcases in a group of people waiting for
a flying saucer from Alpha Centauri to take them away from Earth. I'm
surprised they weren't among the group who took a `comet ride' enmass, several
years ago. You listened to them talk to the interviewer, and you looked into
their eyes as they spoke, and there was `nobody home'. I had to look closely
at both of them several times as they were talking, to see if they were joking
or something. But both were completely deadpan! They never turned a hair. You
saw they really believed what they were saying! It was disgusting. How can
such base ignorance exist in a society that is touted as one of the most
educated in the world!


They were both perfect examples of urgent reasons for non-voluntary, enforced
sterilization.


But I was definitely outraged at the state and local powers that be, for not
urgently intervening and saving that girls life. I mean, you just try
disciplining one of your teenage children with a slap in the face out here,
and watch how fast the state child protective services are at your house,
taking your kids into custody, filing charges of child battery, and having a
childrens court judge make you jump through a bunch of hoops to get your kids
back.


But not one single thing happened to these two sorry excuses for parents. Not
one single thing. Where are society's priorities? I don't remember who the
governor was here, then, either George Dukemejian, or Jerry Brown, one or the
other. Both of them sorry sacks.



---
*Durango b301 #PE* Fluctuat nec mergitur - It is tossed by the waves but it
does not
 * Origin: Try Our Web Based QWK: DOCSPLACE.ORG (1:123/140)