Thursday, August 6, 2009

Ezekiel Emanuel and the Obama death caucus

"President Obama's director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, is himself advised by Ezekiel Emanuel -- brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

In addition to serving as a Special Advisor in the Obama Administration, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is a fellow at the Hastings Center. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research center, has published articles and books on the patient's right to die, as well as promoted "Assisted Dying" policy as a component of healthcare reform.

Dr. Emanuel's June 2008 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association criticized the Hippocratic Oath as an unwelcome "imperative [for physicians] to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others."

In the article, titled "The Perfect Storm of Overutilization," he instead encourages a "move toward more socially sustainable, cost-effective care."

This philosophy of "socially sustainable care" for older Americans is reflected in nine pages of the bill devoted to a description of a new Medicare benefit: 'Advance Care Planning Consultation.'"

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