Tuesday 24 October 2006

Polly only put the kettle on for people who would benefit

I picked this up today from Tim Worstall. It is a quote from Polly Toynbee:


But it isn't as simple as that. Faced with patients clinging to any last straw, the big questions remain. What is a life worth? How good a quality of life should be saved, at what price, for how long? Nice has a rule of thumb using QALYs, or quality-adjusted life years. A year of life in a reasonable condition is worth £20,000-£25,000. Anything over £30,000 needs to be an exceptional case: that's not personal circumstance but a rare condition with absolutely no other treatment. Nice has to consider what better treatments could be bought for how many others for the cost of holding off death for a few more painful months? Never easy, it will always depend on how much cash there is in the pot. And politicians need to ask if an NHS pound really buys more wellbeing than other services?


Never let it be said that the left are lacking in compassion. As Polly makes clear, people who have paid taxes (presumably for a stake in services) but who are dying should just damn well die. They are gone, finished, and money spent enabling them to extend their lives is a waste.
Never let it be said either that a solely taxpayer funded system leads to utilitarian rationing and the state handout of life and death. Tim asks: Is Polly really ready to go to one of those people with multiple myeloma, look them in the face and say, no, you must die in the name of equality? The answer, of course, is "yes" or "no, but then I don't have to. A doctor can do that". Their lives are meaningless and they are a waste of money. Well done Polly, you've just exposed the bankrupt ethics of the secular left: Come on all you dying people, what are you waiting for? Fuck off and die before you cost us any more money.

No comments: