The fear of 'death panels' may be overaggerated but do pose an ominous warning to us all. The concept of an IPAB (Independent Patient Advisory Board) looms in an uncertain way during these perilous times of intertwining and complex changes to a complex health system.
The very recent experience of a child who was declared 'brain dead' exemplifies the problem of determining 'what is death' ?
The LA Times Headlines on Januray 21, 2014 read:
McMath attorney: Jahi's family aren't fools; they deserve better than ignorant attacks
Brian Franklin, left, attorney for Children's Hospital Oakland, and Christopher Dolan, attorney for Nailah Winkfield, mother of Jahi McMath, speaks during a court hearing to discuss the treatment of Winkfield's daughter in Oakland. Among those in the courtroom were Martin Winkfield and wife Nailah Winkfield, behind the attorneys.
"I am the attorney who answered a call for help from Jahi McMath's family in December. I have represented them for free — starting 10 hours before the first order to turn off Jahi's ventilator at Children's Hospital Oakland — as they have fought for their right to make medical decisions for a beloved child."
Despite the incendiary, hateful public rhetoric that has surrounded this case, I believe that self-interest alone should lead most Americans to thank Nailah Winkfield, Jahi's anguished mother, for her courage..............
I applaud Mr McMath who so eloquently discusses the conundrum of family vs a medical system stressed financially and the importance of medical providers and hospitals to act as fiduciaries of their patients.
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