British Doctors Now Asking Elderly If They’re Ready to Die

Ever since the Affordable Care Act was passed, Americans have been asking themselves if our healthcare will ever resemble the UK’s socialized medical system. Some have greeted it with praise, while others have been concerned that our healthcare could turn to death panels to cut costs. Now the UK’s National Health Service has given us another unfortunate condition to look forward to. They recently told all doctors to ask every patient over 75 if they would like to establish a “do not resuscitate” order for future emergencies. In some cases, the doctors are ordering their nurses to cold-call every elderly patient, and everyone with a long-term condition, to see if they have “thought about resuscitation.”

Could you imagine how awkward it would be to receive such a phone call? To be called right out of the blue and gently asked if you’re ready to die. As one health analyst put it ‘It will give some older people the impression that no-one wants to bother with them. It looks as though they’re being told: ‘You’re old, how do you want to die because you’re in the way’.

Of course, the NHS is playing innocent, and has claimed that this is all about improving the ‘end of life’ care of their patients. But I think we know better. This is about asking their most expensive patients if they could do them a favor and die already.