The cat has leaped out of the bag in the Leslie Burke case. The government has argued that it would be too expensive to permit some patients who want to live to remain alive if doctors don’t agree. This is blatant health care rationing.
Health care rationing is medical discrimination by a polite name. And it pits some patients against others. The UK government seems to be intentionally pitting healthier and able bodied patients against the ill and disabled by their public arguments. The idea is that if people like Burke can demand food and water or other forms of life sustenance, other types of health care will have to be limited. Shame on them.
A more reasonable approach would be to separate tube-supplied food and water from other forms of care. That would take care of Leslie Burke. Then, the other issues of health care resources could be argued. For example, is it just that some people be denied wanted life-sustaining medical treatment so that NHS can offer other patients free care?
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