Medical Rights

Anyone who has ever suffered with chronic pain can attest to the cruelty being inflicted with barbarian laws that otherwise law-abiding citizens are being forced to navigate.

What right do our legislators have to deny a chronic pain sufferer a chance at relief? As someone who has suffered with long-term chronic pain, I can tell you, it’s no picnic. Many chronic pain sufferers have a difficult time finding a doctor who can diagnose, let alone treat the origins of chronic pain.

I am ashamed to admit that there were times I truly wanted to die, the pain was so unbearable and I am one who is firmly opposed to euthanasia. The pain medication the doctor prescribed would make me sick to my stomach, unable to eat and very lethargic. I was not in a good place. I would have done anything to stop the pain.

When I moved and lost my health insurance, I counted it a blessing. Once my insurance was no longer footing the bills, I began exploring alternative treatments, home remedies, and taking preventative measures. My efforts paid off big-time. Though still a pain sufferer, I was learning to better manage it. Still, I needed occasional help controlling the pain.

My natural choice was to turn to smoking marijuana. It was actually cheaper to purchase small quantities every couple months, than it was to pay for a doctor’s appointment and expensive prescriptions. Smoking weed enabled me to eat, it helped me to sleep and didn’t leaving me feeling all drugged out and hung over.

I even had moments when I was painfree, and could actually laugh and play with my young grandson, who lived with us. At these times, I felt human again and glad to be alive.

I remember growing up in a rural community. We didn’t run to the doctor with every sniffle, ache or pain. Grandma had Caster Oil, Peroxide, Baking Soda, Watkins Linament Rub and anything from the garden. We made our own butter, skimmed off our own cream, butchered our own chickens, baked our own bread and tended our own sick.

What right do these bozo’s have to tell me what methods I can use to treat my pain? Medicine is about relieving suffering, let’s get with the program. The article below illustrates an ignorance of the true issues surrounding the legalization of marijuana… [Read entire article]

As NJ Mulls Medical Marijuana Law, MS-Sufferer Faces Jail

Garden State could be the 14th in the nation to legalize medical marijuana

By Brian Thompson
Updated 6:45 PM EST, Mon, Nov 30, 2009

New Jersey’s legislature may be on the brink of passing a medical marijuana law, but it may be too late for MS-sufferer John Wilson of Franklin Township.

"This is as good an example as we could possibly have of allowing people who are suffering progressive disease to get some pain relief," said State Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Union County), of Wilson, who will stand trial on drug charges next month.

Lesniak is supporting a measure in the Legislature that would make New Jersey the 14th state in the nation with a medical marijuana program.

A National Guard training flight spotted 17 pot plants growing in Wilson’s backyard two summers ago, and notified lawmen. The most severe charge they filed was first degree maintaining or operating a drug production facility. That crime carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Wilson, who has no medical insurance and is self-employed, selling items on E-bay, says he simply can’t afford the $2,000 a month that his doctors say he would need in prescription medicine.

"I’ve never been in prison before and don’t want to go there because I know my health with definitely deteriorate," said the 36-year-old.

The judge who will preside at his trial has already ruled that Wilson’s medical condition cannot be used in his defense. Attorney James Wronko could only say, "Jurors are pretty good at discerning the facts of cases. They get a feel for it."

Opponents of medical marijuana argue that legalizing the drug even for a few in need still sets a bad precedent for young people that society is trying to keep off drugs.

But supporters say strict enforcement of laws they generally endorse, without the medical marijuana exception, turn people like Wilson into criminals.

While the state legislature decides in the next few weeks whether or not to approve a medical marijuana law — one version has already passed the State Senate — Sen. Lesniak says he is writing Governor Jon Corzine now to ask him to pardon Wilson, even before the trial begins.

Free Health Care — Really!

I don’t know about you but I just can’t wait for all that “free” “healthcare” to come my way (wink, wink). Won’t it just be terrific? I could get my broken teeth fixed, man I’ve got two that were filled about 100 years ago and they are just crumbling, which isn’t even the worst part.

I used an emery board to take the rough edges off when it broke; all those sharp edges were doing a number on the inside of my cheeks. At one point I thought maybe if I stuffed some cotton balls between my teeth and my cheeks – okay, I admit I tried it. Don’t ask.

I received an e-mail a couple days ago and I was trying to fact check it. Well, you know as well as I do that these yahoos we’ve elected to represent us, hire people who speak a distinct dialect of mumbo jumbo. They do their best to avoid using any commonly used search terms, hoping the folks back home aren’t checking up on them – and so what if they are – they won’t understand a word of it anyway.

For instance, let’s just say I spent a few hours trying to decipher the proposed healthcare legislation. Let’s back up, this e-mail is what finally fired me up enough to start checking on this bill. It couldn’t be as bad as everyone is saying? Or could it?

The e-mail read…

Real ID is embedded in the Obama health care bill. Read the below analysis.

See page 58 of the bill: Every person will be issued a National ID Health card.

Abortions and Assisted Suicides will NOT be rationed!

The Economic Policy Journal points us to Peter Fleckstein, who twittered the contents of the House Socialized Medicine bill. Oh, what a treat your family is in for.

Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!

Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!

Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)

Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.

Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.

Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Health card.

Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.

Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)

Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.

Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)

Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens

Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.

Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.

Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No “judicial review” is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.

Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.

Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.

Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.

Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll

Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll

Page 167: Any individual who doesn’t have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).

Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.

Page 203: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it really says that.

Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. “Seniors and the poor most affected..”

Page 241: Doctors: no matter what speciality you have, you’ll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)

Page 253: Government sets value of doctors’ time, their professional judgment, etc.

Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.

Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.

Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!

Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.

Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.

Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!

Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.

Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on “community” input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.

Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.

Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.

Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.

Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).

Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?

Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.

Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.

Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.

Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient’s health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.

Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.

Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.

Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.

Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.

Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

What is it with Democrats? The only medical services that they don’t want to ration are abortion and assisted suicide!

So, I started with Page 59. To be honest it took awhile to actually find the bill. So much has been written on it and to be honest, they are hoping no one actually sits down to read about the demise of our last bastion of freedom.

The email says…

“Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.”

That is not at all what I read in the bill. The bill actually reads:

(C) enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice;

Even on the previous page, it doesn’t say what we are told. Does the writer have some inside knowledge because he doesn’t share it with the reader?

(D) enable the real-time (or near real time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card;

I read awhile longer but fact checking this e-mail wasn’t going to be a five-minute job. Of course, reading this entire bill is no minor feat. I was so upset, seeing how involved it was and the sheer volume of it was so intimidating, I picked up the phone a couple of days ago and called all my representatives.

I not only asked them to vote no on H.R. 3200; I informed each of them that signing legislation without having first READ it was immoral. I told them that we hired them to do a job and we expect them to do it to the best of their ability.

Well, I doubt it made a difference to them but I’m going to keep calling and keep writing. I’m going to hold their feet the fire. This medical bill will bankrupt this country. What burns me up the most is the fact that the federal government broke it, now they think they can fix it. They broke it when they got into bed with the pharmaceutical companies.

I read one thing in this huge bill that stood out to me like a sore thumb.

(1) NO COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES. – There shall be no cost-sharing under the essential benefits package for preventive items and services (as specified under the benefit standards), including well baby and well child care.

What does this mean? Cost-sharing? I’m reading this to mean that this “healthcare plan” is just as bad as what we have now. You can get all the help you need AFTER you’re sick but hey, good luck staying well. Food Stamps won’t pay for non-food items, like vitamins and supplements and Medicaid doesn’t pay for aspirins or cough syrup but hey if you do get a head cold, don’t bother with the doctor just stop in at the local emergency room, we’ll fit you right in.

The letter also said, “Abortions and Assisted Suicides will NOT be rationed!” This could almost be laughable if it wasn’t so ironic. They put a strict limit on the number of Bear or Deer that can be “taken” in any one year but why why should we do anything to save a baby?

How can we be so callous and unfeeling? Could it be that since there are so many people on the planet, we can’t see the value of each and every life any more? Can’t we see that each child is precious and to be cherished?

CA: Oppose AB 755

Child and Family Protection Association recently issued an alert on California Assembly Bill 755 (AB 755) and while I agree that this bill creates a huge problem for parents of young children. I really think they miss the point.

Oppose AB 755

The alert highlights the following points of contention:

AB 755 (Assembly Member Sally Lieber) – Prohibition of Spanking Opposition Points to Share with Legislators
Position: Strongly Oppose
Status: AB 755 (introduced 2/22/07)

Assembly Member Sally Lieber’s first proposal to address all spanking of children ages three and under was never introduced as a bill, apparently due to much opposition. However, contrary to claims originating from her office:

  1. She has not “fixed” her no-spank proposal; she has only adopted a different strategy;
  2. AB 755 is an anti-spanking bill “in disguise” and would have the effect of abolishing most spanking without using language directly outlawing spanking.
  3. Lieber believes that all “good parents” never spank their children; that only “bad parents” do, and therefore “good parents” do not need to be worried about her bill; and
  4. When Lieber claims that her bill only deals with child abuse, remember that she believes that all spanking, by definition, is child abuse. Her strategy in AB 755 is to treat all spanking with an object as criminal child abuse. She has deliberately failed to make any distinction between spanking as a method of discipline and true child abuse.

AB 755 would amend Penal Code 273a, which currently makes it a crime to cause unjustifiable pain, harm, or injury to any minor child. AB 755 would create a new “rebuttable presumption” that physical pain or mental suffering inflicted upon a child is unjustifiable if it is caused by any of the seven kinds of actions, which are listed in AB 755.

The first of the seven actions listed is: “the use of an implementation, including, but not limited to, a stick, a rod, a switch, an electrical cord, an extension cord, a belt, a broom, or a shoe.” This first action includes the act of spanking with an implement (i.e. an object other than using one’s hand).

The significance of the new “rebuttable presumption” in AB 755 is that regardless of any circumstances, the police and District Attorney would have to consider all spanking with an implement to be unjustifiable. Parents would have the difficult task of proving (rebutting the charges) that the spanking was justifiable to the satisfaction of the court in a criminal trial in order to avoid being sent to jail for up to one year or receiving other penalties. The case also could be referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) and Juvenile Court, which could result in the possible temporary or permanent loss of custody of their children.

Roy M. Hanson, Jr.
Child and Family Protection Association
Alert issued April 12, 2007
PO Box 730
Lincoln, CA 95648-0730

Let’s put this all in perspective. The only way a parent would ever get caught up in this trap is by being reported by a childcare worker or medical personnel. This means that more parents will think twice before seeking medical attention.

The proposed legislation also requires; if a person is convicted of violating this section and probation is granted, the court shall require the following minimum conditions of probation:

  1. A mandatory minimum period of probation of 48 months.
  2. A criminal court protective order protecting the victim from further acts of violence or threats, and, if appropriate, residence exclusion or stay-away conditions.
    1. A Successful completion of either a nonviolent parental education class approved by the probation department or no less than one year of a child abuser’s treatment counseling program approved by the probation department. The defendant shall be ordered to begin participation in either the class or the program immediately upon the grant of probation.
    2. The terms of probation for offenders shall not be lifted until all reasonable fees due to the counseling program have been paid in full, but in no case shall probation be extended beyond the term provided in subdivision (a) of Section 1203.1. If the court finds that the defendant does not have the ability to pay the fees based on the defendant’s changed circumstances, the court may reduce or waive the fees.
  3. If the offense was committed while the defendant was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the defendant shall abstain from the use of drugs or alcohol during the period of probation and shall be subject to random drug testing by his or her probation officer.
  4. The court may waive any of the above minimum conditions of probation upon a finding that the condition would not be in the best interests of justice. The court shall state on the record its reasons for any waiver.

This bill, as it is written, will provide a huge influx of cash for those offering parental education classes, treatment counseling programs and require more probation officers to be hired and more business for drug testing facilities. All of these “services” provided at the cost of the accused.

Those who are familiar with our court system know that it is currently next to impossible to get a fair trial. This bill will increase the caseload on the court system and does nothing to provided added protections for children.

In short, this bill is a smoke screen – a band-aid that does nothing but rake good parents over the coals and empty their wallets. You’ve heard the fraise “As California goes, so goes the nation.” If this bill is passed, you can expect to see similar legislation passed in many more states.

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