Sunday, July 09, 2006

A WONDERFUL STORY BUT NO CREDIT TO THE NHS

Will he ever be told that government doctors intended to kill him?



When doctors turned off James Smart’s life-support machine after he had spent ten days in a coma, his mother believed that her two-year-old son could not survive. But, against all odds, James started to breathe on his own and is on his way to a full recovery. Yesterday he played at home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, as his mother, Ellie Craven, 21, told how he came back from the brink of death.

James had shown no sign of life after contracting pneumococcal meningitis. Doctors feared that if he survived he would be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. But, two months after being released from hospital, he continues to amaze medical staff.

James began to feel unwell in February and his mother took him to the doctor. Despite having a high temperature, freezing hands and a sore throat, all that was suspected was a throat infection. Less than 24 hours later meningitis was diagnosed and the boy went into a coma. Ms Craven was in labour with her second child when James was rushed to hospital. He was placed on a life-support machine as medical staff drained fluid from his brain. After ten days, with no sign of progress, he was taken off it. “Nobody could believe it when he started breathing,” Ms Craven said. James suffered a small amount of brain damage, but after nine weeks in hospital, where he underwent intensive physiotherapy and speech therapy, he returned home.

Source

In the USA, coma patients are often kept alive for years. In Britain's "caring" socialized medicine system, this little boy was allowed only 10 days. Personal note: This story moved me to tears

***************************

For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here, the mirror site may be more up to date. My Home Page is here or here.

***************************

1 comment:

sue cascella said...

how long is the "so called" average time that someone stays alive after they "pull the plug"?