Hard Evidence Exposes Obama Health Rationing Agenda

For those who doubt the immediate and pervasive influence of the man the Wall Street Journal (see link at bottom of this article) called “Obama’s Health Rationer-in-Chief”, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and others of like mind, here is hard evidence that the “let granny die” policies espoused by this group are already being placed into effect.

Take a look at the Flu Vaccine use priorities established by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) under the previous administration in response to the 50% loss of vaccine doses for the 2004/05 flu season, that occurred when a major vaccine manufacturer was taken off line in the UK.

Source: CDC Press release, Department of Health and Human Services web site, Oct. 5, 2004
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Interim Influenza Vaccination Recommendations: 2004-05

all children aged 6-23 months;

adults aged 65 years and older;

persons aged 2-64 years with underlying chronic medical conditions;

all women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;

residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities;

children aged 6 months-18 years on chronic aspirin therapy;

health-care workers involved in direct patient care; and

out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children aged < 6 months.

Now look at the priorities established for the use of the H1N1 vaccine under the Obama administration.

Source: CDC Press Release August 29, 2009.
Use of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine, Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2009

pregnant women,

persons who live with or provide care for infants aged <6 months (e.g., parents, siblings, and daycare providers),

health-care and emergency medical services personnel,§

persons aged 6 months–24 years, and

persons aged 25–64 years who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications

Notice any change in priorities?  This is not just a migration of policy over the years since since 2004, this is a complete and sudden reversal of traditional objectives and priorities that have been established for decades.  Dr. Kevin McCrea, a physician at the Laurel Medical Center, in Laurel Montana was quoted in the September 16, 2009 issue of The Laurel Outlook News:

Distribution plans for H1N1 vaccine

“In years past when there was a limited supply of vaccine, our emphasis has been to vaccinate the elderly first. It’s just the opposite this time with the H1N1 virus”

There are a couple of possible explainations for this revolutionary switch from protecting the elderly on a priority basis to completely ignoring them.  First, it is possible that medical research has discovered that those over 65 are no longer as likely to be harmed by this flu, or perhaps this is a a politically motivated change reflecting a completely new set of societal values.  Perhaps suddenly, those over 65 are no longer considered worthy of a vaccine dose.  Which do you believe?

This is right in line with the rationing doctrine preached by Dr Emanuel.  Included below are some exerpts from the Wall Street Journal Article cited above, authored by Betsy McCaughey, former Lt. Governor of New York,  entitled “Obama’s Health Rationer-in-Chief”:

Dr. Emanuel is part of a school of thought that redefines a physician’s duty, insisting that it includes working for the greater good of society instead of focusing only on a patient’s needs.

~~~~~ Dr. Emanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, has already been appointed to two key positions: health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and a member of the Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research.

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True reform, he argues, must include redefining doctors’ ethical obligations. In the June 18, 2008, issue of JAMA, Dr. Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the “overuse” of medical care: “Medical school education and post graduate education emphasize thoroughness,” he writes. “This culture is further reinforced by a unique understanding of professional obligations, specifically the Hippocratic Oath’s admonition to ‘use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment’ as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others.”

In numerous writings, Dr. Emanuel chastises physicians for thinking only about their own patient’s needs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Emanuel believes doctors should serve two masters, the patient and society, and that medical students should be trained “to provide socially sustainable, cost-effective care.” ~~~~~~~~~~~

Covering services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic, and should not be guaranteed.

In the Lancet, Jan. 31, 2009, Dr. Emanuel and co-authors presented a “complete lives system” for the allocation of very scarce resources, such as kidneys, vaccines, dialysis machines, intensive care beds, and others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~”whether to save one 20-year-old, who might live another 60 years, if saved, or three 70-year-olds, who could only live for another 10 years each—is unclear.” In fact, Dr. Emanuel makes a clear choice: “When implemented, the complete lives system produces a priority curve on which individuals aged roughly 15 and 40 years get the most substantial chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get changes that are attenuated (see Dr. Emanuel’s chart nearby).

Dr. Emanuel concedes that his plan appears to discriminate against older people, but he explains: “Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65-year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not.”

I note with interest how the revolutionary new priorities seem to closely follow Dr Emanuel’s Complete Lives Chart above.  I doubt that is a coincidence.  In fact, it is clear to me that the rug jerk priority change in the rationing of the H1N1 vaccine is the result of political change wrought by the Obama administration, not medical research regarding the susceptibility of those over age 65 to influenza.  It is an early implementation step of an agenda that President Obama now denies.  “Deny all but continue to implement the agenda” seems to be a rule of this administration.  Resorting to cliche’, we now see the tip of the iceberg and should be able to make educated guesses about the 90% that remains hidden beneath the surface.  Watch out Granny, things are EXACTLY what they seem.

Read Ms McCaughey’s full WSJ article Here:
Obama’s Health Rationer-in-Chief

Tagged as: Big Government, Democrats' Healthcare Plan, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, Government Run Healthcare, H.R.3200: America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, Health Care, Health Care Rationing, Health Care Reform, Let Granny Die, Obamacare, Smoking Gun, Universal Health Care