The Angry White Guy

The Death Book

Posted August 25th 2009 at 12:37 am by AWG

I’m sure you’ve heard of the “Death Book” for veterans.

http://www.rihlp.org/pubs/Your_life_your_choices.pdf

Now they, they being the VA says the book is under revision…

Note –
The following is a 1997 publication that was produced under VA IIR Grant No. 94-050, “Development of an
Advance Care Planning Workbook,” 4/01/95 – 3/31/97. The document is currently undergoing revision for release in VA. The revised version will be available soon.

If it’s under revision why leave it up? More importantly why did they bring the book back? Bush put a end to the use of the book but as soon as Obama took office they brought it back, why? It only went under revision after the WSJ article by Jim Towery hit the street.

So what is this book? This is a work book for veteran to decide if they should live or die… the only choices they offer are; difficult but acceptable, worth living, but just barely, not worth living, can’t answer now. WTF?? Good thing Steven Hawkins isn’t a US veteran, he’d be a gonner according to the VA.

Oh by the way the left wing loon blogosphere is all a buzz with how FoxNews distorted this story, well that’s a lie from the left not surprisingly. So I will tell you what you look at the possible answers and the questions and you decide the facts, but another fact is what would the hell would the left know about the VA I highly doubt any of them ever served their country… but it doesn’t keep them from bitching about it. As for the VA, I’ve been to them and it is a highly flawed health care system and I’d only go there if I had no other choice… seriously I know a few Veterinarians I’d go to first.

However, if the book is being misrepresented then why is the Democrat poster boy Arlen Specter calling for hearing on the book and it’s content? Just sayin’
Calls for congressional hearing into end of life care booklet for veterans, given out by the VA

So let’s look at a few questions on Page 21…

Instructions this exercise will help you think about and
express what really matters to you. For each row, check (✔)
one answer to express how you would feel if this factor by
itself described you.

Life like this would be:

difficult but acceptable,

worth living, but just barely

not worth living,

can’t answer now

a. I can no longer walk but get around in a wheelchair.
b. I can no longer get outside—I spend all day at home.
c. I can no longer contribute to my family’s well being.
d. I am in severe pain most of the time.
e. I have severe discomfort most of the time (such as nausea, diarrhea, or shortness of breath).
f. I rely on a feeding tube to keep me alive.
g. I rely on a kidney dialysis machine to keep me alive.
h. I rely on a breathing machine to keep me alive.
i. I need someone to help take care of me all of time.
j. I can no longer control my bladder.
k. I can no longer control my bowels.
l. I live in a nursing home.
m. I can no longer think clearly-I am confused all the time.
n. I can no longer recognize family/friends
o. I can no longer talk and be understood by others.
p. My situation causes severe emotional burden for my family (such as feeling worried or stressed all the time).
q. I am a severe financial burden on my family.
r. I cannot seem to “shake the blues.”
s. Other (write in):

Well isn’t a happy little list with happy little choices, isn’t it? As a veteran I find this book offensive. Where the hell is the answer… I WANT TO LIVE, DO WHAT EVER YOU CAN! Where is that choice? Where is the choice, LIFE IS GOOD? Where is the choice, I SERVED MY COUNTRY, NOW MY COUNTRY CAN SERVE ME! Where is there answer? Just look at some of the canned statement, how the hell can you answer this questionnaire if you are “confused all the time”? How can you answer if you “no longer recognize for family”? These are sick-sick questions. You can not legally draft a ‘will’ if you are not of sound mind, I ask how can you draft a ‘living will’ if you are in worse shape? I think there is something legally wrong with this book.

WSJ article The Death Book for Veterans by Jim Towey

If President Obama wants to better understand why America’s discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Dept. of Veterans Affairs. He will quickly discover how government bureaucrats are greasing the slippery slope that can start with cost containment but quickly become a systematic denial of care….

Last year, bureaucrats at the VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, “Your Life, Your Choices.” It was first published in 1997 and later promoted as the VA’s preferred living will throughout its vast network of hospitals and nursing homes. After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated “Your Life, Your Choices.”

Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing.

“Your Life, Your Choices” presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions, much like a political “push poll.”…

I was not surprised to learn that the VA panel of experts that sought to update “Your Life, Your Choices” between 2007-2008 did not include any representatives of faith groups or disability rights advocates. And as you might guess, only one organization was listed in the new version as a resource on advance directives: the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically known as “Compassion and Choices”).

VA Version here.
VA Watchdog here.
More VA horror here
Negligence Suits Likely Over VA Procedures
Up to 11,000 U.S. veterans may have been mistakenly infected with HIV
Letters Mistakenly Inform [Veterans] of Fatal Disease
Millions in VA Bonuses Questioned

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