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Reply To: | St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List |
Date: | Fri, 7 Apr 2000 11:26:58 EDT |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
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Just wondering if anyone else saw last night's episode of ER regarding the
treatment of the young lady who had multiple disabilities including mental
retardation. While I recognise that ER is not entirely based in fact I do
believe that this situation echos the feelings of the majority of the medical
establishment. The woman presented with a non-life threating infection
requiring a central line and antibiotics. Most of the doctors and her
"guardian" write her off saying that she is better off dead anyway. I ask
who are we to place a value or devalue on human life regardless of how severe
one's disability is? As a person with moderately severe CP I am sometimes
viewed as retarded yet I graduted cum laude from college. Often doctors
disregard my needs, wants, and desires. One of the ways that I combat this
is by finding doctors who are truly sensative to my needs. This is not
always possible as emergencies do arise. I am just interested in hearing
others thoughts regarding this issue.
BRIAN
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