Oh don't go getting your knickers all in a knot, I know that by using the phrase 'death panels' some of the looniest out there will go apeish with Palin derangement syndrome and lump me in with their favorite right wing nut du` jour.
But at least take a look at this article from the Las Vegas Review Journal and tell me if you don't see the germination of a new way to tell older people that they just aren't going to get the treatment they want: It's for their own good.
Two months after H1N1 flu vaccine was first distributed to public health districts around the country, people 65 and older with serious medical conditions still can't get vaccinated.
Anter's doctors at Stanford University Hospital, where he received his transplant, tell him he has a compromised immune system and "the H1N1 flu could do me in."
He takes at least nine prescription medications daily to stay alive.
"But when I try to get a shot, I'm told I'm too old " he said as he sat in the study of his Peccole Ranch home.
"I feel that they see me and other older people as garbage and are just waiting for the trucks to come pick us up," Anter said.
"I served my country. I enlisted during the Korean War. You don't treat people this way just because they're older."
The priority groups for the vaccine, which public health officials say is still in short supply, remain pregnant women; people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months; health care and emergency first responders; persons between 6 months and 24 years of age; and adults up to 64 with chronic health conditions.
The evidence has shown that, as a group, seniors need the vaccine less than younger age groups, according to Dr. Anthony Fiore with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And when there is a vaccine shortage, he said, you must prioritize.
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