> I tried to find your book the other night at Cody's, Moe's, and then
> B&N, but nobody had it.
A friend said that they got a copy from Cody's but maybe they are out. The publisher is Common Courage Press, the distributor is Logan out of Chicago. You can order direct by calling 800 497-3207.
> I will keep looking around locally, but in the meantime I have to ask
> about Eleanor Smith.
> This has to be the same Eleanor Smith I worked with, or rather under,
> about thirty years ago at Cowell Hospital--the Univ of
> Calif. Berkeley student hospital (since torn down and replaced with
> the Haas School of Business!).
>
> She was an rehab nurse/occupational therapist (?) working for the Cal
> Dept of Voc Rehab and was heavily involved in getting younger severely
> disabled people out of county hospitals and into school or independent
> living. Is this the same person? If so, could you just give a quick
> sketch of the context and the quote? (off-list if you prefer)
I don't know if Eleanor lived in California. But this sure sounds like something that she would be doing. She has lived in Georgia for many years. Here is the excerpt from Beyond Ramps:
" McAFee told Joseph Shapiro of U.S. News & World Report that he hated losing control of his body but that losing control of his life was worse.8 McAFee had hoped to remain a valued participant in society, but found his way blocked at every turn by catch-22's. The lack of PAS in Georgia meant that McAfee had to be institutionalized; institutionalization meant that McAffee could not respond to want ads or take computer courses; no job re-training meant no chance for employment and employment itself could mean that work disincentives built into disability policy would risk the very support he needed to survive. Wouldn't any motivated person become despondent over such overwhelming obstacles?
Eleanor Smith and other disability rights activists, outraged that society was willing to step in and help a disabled person die rather than provide the means to live, held demonstrations during the court hearings. The attorney, the physician, and the judge all participated in moving the suicide agenda forward.
The attorney who pled his case said McAfee was "depressed" but did not insist (as he surely would have if a nondisabled client made a suicide request) that McAfee immediately receive crisis intervention therapy. Rather he directly filed the petition with the court , bypassing any depression therapy.10 During the court proceedings, McAfee explained to the judge that the seven months spent in Grady hospital was a low point for him and said, "Everyday when I wake up there is nothing to look forward to." The judge did not hear McAFee's plea to bring quality into his life. Judge Johnson ruled that McAfee had no "emotional or psychological disabilities" and granted McAfee's request to disconnect his ventilator. No psychological evaluation or intervention was ordered. The court assumed that a quadraplegic life would not be worth living, and that death was a rational choice. The judge called him "heroic" and "courageous."
And later in the same chapter I used this from Smith's press release:
"Activists pointed out that "the state creates an unbearable quality of life and then steps in and says disabled people should be assisted to die because their quality of life is so poor."16 None of the officials supported the attendant services that McAfee, the disabled citizen, requested. None seriously addressed the fact that PAS is a more cost effective means of solving care needs, or the simple fact that disabled people prefer a self-determined lifestyle. Most importantly, none of the experts addressed the fact that McAfee had been robbed of his self-esteem, demeaned, intruded upon, and humiliated by Georgia's social services bureaucracy. Instead, they gave him the "right" to die."
> On the bio-ethics thread, I told my son, who is starting his first
> year residency at some hospital in Texas, whenever anybody mentions
> ethics, just follow the money. In medicine ethics => money.
Yes unfortunately so. And dangerously so.
I met a doctor from Wales who was visiting LA. He got to talking about the difference between the health care system in the UK and here. He flatly stated that he would never practice medicine for profit, that the two should be kept seperate because the patient would always lose out. He said that he took a salary but that his family supplemented his income by sheep farming. It was refreshing to talk to such a human being.
Best, Marta