Baby Charlie Hurd passed away today

[tycho1572]

It sucks knowing this child had a chance at life if he wasn't born in country that had socialized medical care.

 

[Dragonlady]

Infanticide.

Innocent child killed by nationalized medicine and its handmaiden courts.

Just exactly what The Democrat Party of Death wants for ALL Americans.

Bullshit. The NHS kept this child on a ventilator for a year. The parents raised money to take him to the US for experimental treatments. They didn't pay for the treatment that kept him alive until they could afford to take him out of country.

The American doctor who examined little Charlie said the experimental treatment wouldn't help him.

The American health care system would never have paid for little Charlie's care to this point. The copays would have eaten up the money raised.

Unless Charlie's parents were wealthy, he wouldn't have received any treatment at all beyond the original diagnosis. At that point, his insurance would have cut off paying for his treatment as a hopeless case.

 

[Divine Wind]

Sad the kid died, but there is no such thing as "free health care". Our world is a world of limited resources. Those resources have to be doled out, usually by those who earn them. The kid, Charlie Gard, had rare but deadly genetic disease: "mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare inherited condition that causes muscle weakness and loss of motor skills. Charlie was the 16th person to ever be diagnosed with the disease, according to his parents."

As the CNN link below delineates, there was no known cure, but a US doctor offered hope of extending the child's life for a fee, the costs of which the parents raised through donations. In the end, the parents decided to pull the plug because Charlie's health had deteriorated: "On Monday, Charlie's parents gave up their fight to take Charlie to the US after new brain and muscle scans revealed their son had deteriorated and was therefore less likely to benefit from the experimental treatment, while his doctors and parents battled in court. Too much time had passed."

Baby Charlie Gard dies after life support withdrawn - CNN.com

 

[Dragonlady]

Years ago my roommate's sister was diagnosed with some super rare condition and told she would live, at most, another 10 years. My response was that a cure might be found before that 10 years were up.

My roommate (whose entire family were scientists and highly educated) replied that her disease was too rare and no one was even looking for a cure. Reasearch is only interested in diseases which are common and which will result in a big payday when the cure is found. It simply costs too much money for research, the drug approval process, and clinical trials to bring it to market.

Charlie Gard was always going to die very young.

 

[Divine Wind]

Years ago my roommate's sister was diagnosed with some super rare condition and told she would live, at most, another 10 years. My response was that a cure might be found before that 10 years were up.

My roommate (whose entire family were scientists and highly educated) replied that her disease was too rare and no one was even looking for a cure. Reasearch is only interested in diseases which are common and which will result in a big payday when the cure is found. It simply costs too much money for research, the drug approval process, and clinical trials to bring it to market.

Charlie Gard was always going to die very young.

Sad but true. Limited resources....and public interest. While much as been made about how much money Big Pharma spends and reaps from erectile dysfunction, it's not well known that they (and Uncle Sam) also spend more money on Breast Cancer research over Prostate Cancer by a factor of 2:1.

 

[Divine Wind]

Infanticide.

Innocent child killed by nationalized medicine and its handmaiden courts.

Just exactly what The Democrat Party of Death wants for ALL Americans.

Since the parents were Middle Class, the kid would have been dead as soon as the insurance money ran out if it'd been in America.

How many here have run up against their limit on insurance or know someone who has? IRL, not the fucking Internet or "I heard from my sister's friend's cousin...."

WOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!

Point is, Britain's Communist-Care would not allow the parents to opt out of their clutches and send the child to America where he might have gotten help - none of which would have been at government expense.

It's command-and-control medicine - the most deadly kind.

But I do understand why you liberals so love it.

Thanks for reporting me. It reveals your character.

 

[WinterBorn]

It sucks knowing this child had a chance at life if he wasn't born in country that had socialized medical care.

Really? So you think "for profit" insurance companies would have shelled out millions of dollars for an experimental treatment that the doctors in the US have said would not have helped Charlie? Really???

 

[EvilCat Breath]

It sucks knowing this child had a chance at life if he wasn't born in country that had socialized medical care.

Really? So you think "for profit" insurance companies would have shelled out millions of dollars for an experimental treatment that the doctors in the US have said would not have helped Charlie? Really???

For Profit Insurance companies would not have prevented the family from paying out of pocket for any treatment, experimental or otherwise. For profit insurance companies never had that power. Only the government has that power.

 

[WinterBorn]

It sucks knowing this child had a chance at life if he wasn't born in country that had socialized medical care.

Really? So you think "for profit" insurance companies would have shelled out millions of dollars for an experimental treatment that the doctors in the US have said would not have helped Charlie? Really???

For Profit Insurance companies would not have prevented the family from paying out of pocket for any treatment, experimental or otherwise. For profit insurance companies never had that power. Only the government has that power.

Ok, so bitch about the gov't overstepping their bounds. But don't blame it on socialized medicine.

 

[Divine Wind]

It sucks knowing this child had a chance at life if he wasn't born in country that had socialized medical care.

Really? So you think "for profit" insurance companies would have shelled out millions of dollars for an experimental treatment that the doctors in the US have said would not have helped Charlie? Really???

For Profit Insurance companies would not have prevented the family from paying out of pocket for any treatment, experimental or otherwise. For profit insurance companies never had that power. Only the government has that power.

Correct, it's pay-to-play for medicine. The problem for the Gard's was trying to raise the money then take the kid to the US. Meanwhile, the kid was spending money on socialized medicine. I don't know all the factors here, but I strongly doubt the Brits just wanted to kill the kid.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

They just wanted to kill the child. When ever there is a denial of medical care, where that care would have been paid for, it's some sort of perverse need to just end that too much trouble life.

 

[Divine Wind]

It sucks knowing this child had a chance at life if he wasn't born in country that had socialized medical care.

Really? So you think "for profit" insurance companies would have shelled out millions of dollars for an experimental treatment that the doctors in the US have said would not have helped Charlie? Really???

For Profit Insurance companies would not have prevented the family from paying out of pocket for any treatment, experimental or otherwise. For profit insurance companies never had that power. Only the government has that power.

Ok, so bitch about the gov't overstepping their bounds. But don't blame it on socialized medicine.

The kid was doomed from the start since there was no cure; only an experimental treatment that may have extended his life.

Capitalist medicine provides the money for research into common ailments, but only those with money can access it. Those without money are fucked. Socialized medicine, like all Socialized stuff, sets a bottom standard of care, but does not have the assets to make great strides in medical research. Either way, a kid with such a rare condition like Charlie was doomed.

 

[Divine Wind]

They just wanted to kill the child. When ever there is a denial of medical care, where that care would have been paid for, it's some sort of perverse need to just end that too much trouble life.

The Brits? WTF? Why would they want to kill a child?

 

[WinterBorn]

They just wanted to kill the child. When ever there is a denial of medical care, where that care would have been paid for, it's some sort of perverse need to just end that too much trouble life.

The doctors in the US have said that the experimental treatment would likely have made no change in Charlie Gard's life.

There were experts in the UK and international experts who stated that Charlie Gard's condition was not treatable. Mainly it was after the seizure before Xmas caused grave brain damage.

Charlie Gard: how new brain scans showed he could not be helped

 

[WinterBorn]

They just wanted to kill the child. When ever there is a denial of medical care, where that care would have been paid for, it's some sort of perverse need to just end that too much trouble life.

Or the child's condition was too advanced to treat, and there was medical evidence that the child was in pain.

 

[Carter Malone]

They just wanted to kill the child. When ever there is a denial of medical care, where that care would have been paid for, it's some sort of perverse need to just end that too much trouble life.

Tipsycatlover
Who is this "they" who "just wanted to kill the child"? Why would anyone say something so horrible? Its not true of course and surely you know that. I would hope people would be ready to back up statements like this with facts. If not, just please, shut up. You really do nothing to help this child, these parents or any others. You should be ashamed.

As others have already pointed out, there was never any "treatment" that could cure or make the poor baby's life any better or less painful. The most it could have done was extend his life and his misery. When it became apparent that the US doctors could not even do that, the parents decided against going to the US.

 

[Moonglow]

This is the Death Panel Sarah Palin spoke of.....

Sarah has a death panel she uses?

 

[Moonglow]

They just wanted to kill the child. When ever there is a denial of medical care, where that care would have been paid for, it's some sort of perverse need to just end that too much trouble life.

I thought God would heal the child, did anyone ask him?

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Like it or not, a human life has an economic value, and there will always be times when it is appropriate to stop the efforts to artificially extend the term of a life and let nature take its course. Although this particular little kid had funding in place, spending it to extend his value-less life would be a travesty. Take that money and do a couple thousand immunizations, or feed the hungry, or find shelter for some homeless people.

No expense or sacrifice is too great for the people who don't have to pay it.

This is the reason I wanted govt. out of healthcare. Nobody should be viewed as a line item to be cut off by heartless demagogues. We have rights. Charlie had rights. And the govt took a shotgun to them.

 

[Moonglow]

Like it or not, a human life has an economic value, and there will always be times when it is appropriate to stop the efforts to artificially extend the term of a life and let nature take its course. Although this particular little kid had funding in place, spending it to extend his value-less life would be a travesty. Take that money and do a couple thousand immunizations, or feed the hungry, or find shelter for some homeless people.

No expense or sacrifice is too great for the people who don't have to pay it.

This is the reason I wanted govt. out of healthcare. Nobody should be viewed as a line item to be cut off by heartless demagogues. We have rights. Charlie had rights. And the govt took a shotgun to them.

Private insurance companies have cut people off of healthcare services because of expense....So you just can't win no matter how much you scream...