"INDIANAPOLIS | Some cancer patients, heart attack sufferers and burn victims would be removed from ventilators and left to die if pandemic flu patients overwhelmed Indiana's hospitals.
The goal would be to save the most lives as possible, according the Indiana State Department of Health.
But a draft copy of Indiana's "Altered Standards of Care" guidelines reveals that if faced with overwhelming demand, Indiana hospitals would establish what amount to "death panels."
A "triage review officer" would decide who gets access to hospital staff and equipment and, likely, who lives and who will die."
full story:
State guidelines set up decision process if flu outbreak overwhelms hospitals
official document: http://in.gov/isdh/files/ASC_FINAL(twb)(08_18_2008).pdf
The goal would be to save the most lives as possible, according the Indiana State Department of Health.
But a draft copy of Indiana's "Altered Standards of Care" guidelines reveals that if faced with overwhelming demand, Indiana hospitals would establish what amount to "death panels."
A "triage review officer" would decide who gets access to hospital staff and equipment and, likely, who lives and who will die."
full story:
State guidelines set up decision process if flu outbreak overwhelms hospitals
official document: http://in.gov/isdh/files/ASC_FINAL(twb)(08_18_2008).pdf