Wash. Times promotes “Death Book” smear
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From an August 26 Washington Times editorial:
The Death Book is a nickname given to an advice manual published by the Department of Veterans Affairs that instructs veterans “how to prepare a personalized living will.” Officially titled, “Your Life, Your Choices,” the book fosters dark thoughts about a difficult life somehow being less of a life.
[...]
[T]he Death Book is instructive as a reflection on Obamacare priorities and perspectives and what the administration might view as a “waste.” This is important because Mr. Obama and other administration officials regularly talk about a need to cut back on what they term as massive waste in health care.
What government considers a waste, many patients and doctors consider a necessity. Denying this care based on vague notions of efficiency is rationing. Even the New York Times admitted last week that “the concerns [about rationing] are not entirely irrational.” Concern about rationing has been particularly acute among the elderly for good reason. The Death Book shows government's perverse interest in the end of life rather than its extension.
Previously:
Latest Conservative Health Care Smear: “Death Book For Veterans”