Keith Olbermann: A Cry For Help

A very moving Special Comment of Keith's addressing "death panel" claims from the far right including the personal story of his extremely ill father.

When Life is Sacred and When It's Not!

The right-wing, Sarah Palin, Rep. Michelle Bachman, Limbaugh and Glenn were claiming that Obama's health care plan would bring on 'death panels.' They were trying to scare the public into believing that any changes to the present health care system, by the Democrats, would be a threat to their lives. Of course, their claims were bogus.

But in reality, there are real 'death panels.'They are the insurance companies whose decisions override the treating doctor's decision on whether a drug or procedure is medically necessary. These death panels/insurance companies are already working to deprive needed care to patients.

Via Think Progress

The United States is the only industrialized nation without cradle-to-the-grave, universal health care. In no other developed country would a child with cancer have to go without care because an insurance company decided it was not profitable enough to cover him.

Kyler Van Nocker has neuroblastoma, which is a very rare form of childhood cancer that targets the nervous system and creates tumors throughout the body.

Unfortunately, his health insurer, HealthAmerica, refused to pay for one form of treatment doctors believe could save his life (MIBG treatment) because they consider it “investigational/experimental” since it has yet to be approved by the FDA.

Yet in April 2008, the insurer approved cheaper treatment for Van Nocker that was also “experimental,” prompting Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky to ask, “So why, pray tell, is HealthAmerica playing the ‘experimental therapy’ card in the case of the MIBG treatment Kyler now needs? Gee, money couldn’t have anything to do with the decision, could it?”

Here's a recap:

The insurance company, HealthAmerica, is denying treatment to Kyler, a 5 year old boy with cancer. Kyler's doctors say this treatment is medically necessary to save his life. Otherwise, he will die! HealthAmerica says this treatment is "experimental" but had previously approved a cheaper experimental treatment that put Kyler's cancer in remission for 1 year.

The death panel fury was over doctors being paid for the time they spent to discuss end-of-life issues with patients. The doctors weren't denying any care to their patients. The doctors weren't denying any treatment to their patients.

The denial of treatment by an insurance company to a 5 year old boy with cancer will most probably result in the death of the child.

Where is the rage of Palin, Bachman, the Tea Baggers and the right-wing over the denial of treatment for a child...for that matter for anyone. Why wouldn't they want to change a system that is completely broken and ineffective. Don't they believe that every life is sacred?

UPDATE: The MIBG is working.

Children's Hospital, where Kyler receives much of his care, proceeded with two rounds of MIBG therapy for Kyler - at a cost of $110,000 - despite the VanNockers' inability to pay for it. (CHOP hopes that HealthAmerica will reconsider or that Medicaid will cover the MIBG cost; the VanNockers are Medicaid-eligible because they are bankrupt by medical costs).

That doesn't mean Kyler is out of the woods. His serious diagnosis ensures that his prognosis will always be uncertain.

But for now, because his internationally renowned neuroblastoma doctors, not his insurance company, is making the medical decisions, Kyler might make it to his sixth birthday in November.

Acting Like Jerks

It isn't just one Congressman. It is the majority of the GOP party who are acting like sore losers, ill mannered school children and just plain disrespectful.

What kind of example are they displaying for their children, for their constituents and for their country?

President Obama succinctly noted that when "we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves."

Dana Milbank from the Washington Post has put together numerous examples of this onerous GOP behavior as President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.

Of course the "most flagrant" was the comment shouted out at 8:40 pm, just after the president vowed to lawmakers that his health-care reform proposals would not provide benefits to illegal immigrants was from home, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) who shouted at the president from his fifth-row seat: "You lie!"

There was booing from House Republicans when the president caricatured a conservative argument by saying they would "leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own." They hissed when he protested their "scare tactics." They grumbled as they do in Britain's House of Commons when Obama spoke of the "blizzard of charges and countercharges."

When he asserted that "nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have," there was scoffing and outright laughter on the GOP side. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Tex.) shook his head in disbelief. Several Republicans shouted "What plan?" and Rep. Louis Gohmert (Tex.) waved at Obama a handwritten poster he made on a letter-size piece of paper: "WHAT PLAN?" Gohmert then took that down and replaced it with another handmade poster that said "WHAT BILL?"

There was derisive laughter on Republican side of the chamber when Obama noted that "there remain some significant details to be ironed out." They applauded as he spoke of "all the misinformation that's been spread over the past few months." They laughed again when he said that "many Americans have grown nervous about reform."

When Obama addressed the charge that he plans "panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens," someone on the GOP side shouted out "shame!" The president went on: "Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical." "Read the bill!" someone shouted back. Obama mentioned those who accuse him of a government takeover of health care. "It's true," someone shouted back.

Even as Obama delivered a tribute to the late senator Ted Kennedy, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga), a leader of House conservatives, perused his BlackBerry. Shortly before the speech ended, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) walked out to beat the rush.

And Milbank correctly indicates that "there was something appalling about the display on the House floor for what was supposed to be a sacred ritual of American democracy: the nation watching while Cabinet members, lawmakers from both chambers and the diplomatic corps assembled."