More on Katrina "Murders"

Well, to me at first glance, it seems that Dr. Pou did the compassionate thing, if in fact she did in fact give those patients lethal doses of morphine and Versed (strange they mentioned Ativan yesterday...). The article doesn't state the condition of the first patient, the 90 year old woman, but the 89 year-old woman had two gangrenous legs, and dementia. I can only imagine how that womans disease progressed without power to keep her antibiotics and other medications cool. This woman likely needed to go to the OR for amputation and debridement of necrotic tissue. She wasn't going to get better sitting in 100 degree heat, and filth. And the 380 lbs. paralyzed man, must have been difficult to care for. You can't let people suffer, but unfortunately even in the best of situations I've seen families refuse to withdraw care even when the patient is suffering greatly. Unfortunately the loved ones left behind may never understand that if they did it, it was likely out of compassion rather than malice. Dr. Pou and the two nurses should not go to prison.

What is a Terrorist?

In the United States everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. However, unlike in our Constitution (after a lot of amendments of course) all opinions are NOT created equally. There are learned opinions from people who have a good grasp of the subject, and then the random musings of people who because of having watched 5 minutes of Fox News or CNN, suddenly feel they are then qualified to work as a foreign policy advisor. Everything in the world is not good vs. evil or black vs. white. This simplistic approach to the world is dangerous, as we've witnessed during the past 5 or so years (at least). I read the Anderson Cooper 360 Blog comments section this morning and as usual walked away from my computer disgusted, because most were so ignorant and many, unfortunately, bordered on racist.

So, who are the Lebanese? What sort of government do they have? Is it a strictly Muslim country? Are they an oil rich country? Without referencing a map can you describe where Lebanon is? Who is Hizbollah and why do they have a problem with Israel? (We ask the Lebanese government to disarm Hizbollah, but we can't get the guns out of the hands of Idaho gun-nuts here in the U.S. and provide police protection for domestic terrorist groups like the Klan and Neo-Nazi's when they want to march through our neighborhoods while the NRA is sure to protect their weapons. But I digress...) Having separately hosted at least 6 Lebanese medical students in my home a few years ago I know the answers to these questions. Feel free to check out the CIA Factbook for the basics. And while you are researching, look up the definition of terrorism and terrorists? (Also, just for fun compare that definition with the military doctrine of Shock and Awe...makes you squirm a bit doesn't it?). My main question for the day, however, is what drives someone to this desperate state? What make someone join a group like Hizbollah in Lebanon? What makes the majority of Palestinians vote Hamas into power? And why is nobody addressing this root cause? If China for example somehow "annexed" the U.S. and shoved our population of 300 million into say West Texas do you think the "patriots" fighting back would accept the moniker of terrorist? We cannot continue to merely paint them as monsters without addressing the issue of HOW and WHY they came to choose this way of life. Although, I am not sympathetic to their methods, I am interested in their conception. I've always thought that a terrorist is born each time some 9-year old boy sees his father standby emasculated and helpless as IDF soldiers bulldoze their family home. We cannot effectively combat what we do not understand. The "war against terror" is a oxymoron. War is terror.

Moral Boundaries

It seems our decider has yet again twarted the will of the people, and instead bowed to a powerful religious minority.

"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of
finding medical benefits for others," Bush said Wednesday afternoon. "It crosses
a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it."

It's hard to take our President seriously when he uses the words "moral" and "decency" in the same sentence while out of the other side of his mouth he denies aid abroad for much needed family planning and healthcare if even the mention of pregnancy termination is breathed. Where he turns a blind eye (like many U.S. Presidents including Clinton before him) to atrocities occuring around the world. I think we need define some of the words we toss around in casual conversation.

About Stem Cells being more than a collection of cells with potential...well remember the saying, don't count your chickens before they hatch seems to apply here.

Amazing

Not to knock US Soccer, but I've long thought that the reason we just aren't that good is because our soccers base is the suburbs, while the worlds best "footballers" climb out of their respective 'hood. Anyway we just don't have any "funk" to our game. This is like watching a bunch of point guards a Rucker Park..

In the News...
Well, since I just started this blog (and nobody is reading it yet anyway), I'll restrain myself from commenting on the current Lebanese/Israeli/Palestininian/Syrian (and Iranian depending on what you believe) affair right now. I've got good friends from the first two countries, and it hurts to know they are in danger and are probably as we speak working extra shifts in their respective hospitals. As a matter of fact I won't even comment on anything beyond our borders.

So where does that leave us? Hey how about the story yesterday about Anna Pou, M.D., FACS Associate Professor of Head and Neck Surgery who has been indicted along with two nurses for euthanizing patients during the Katrina disaster last year. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13916867/ Maybe the fact that July 18th was a busy newsday, but I haven't seen anyone blog about this story (you'd think the Schiavo folks would have picked up on this...). The question is which was a worse fate slowly suffocating to death in the stifling heat and stench, or going relatively peacefully after an injection of morphine and Ativan? Most of the medical professionals I know, myself included would probably choose the latter if we were DNR (do not resuscitate) and in that situation. Dr. Pou and the two nurses are being portrayed (in the few news outlets that I've read) as some sort of death happy angels, gleefully poking completely healthy, well-fed, and comfortable patients with a lethal coctail (OK so I'm exaggerating a bit). Was it legal? Probably not. Was it ethical? I don't have enough details to make that argument. But these were extenuating circumstances. Triage medicine. 100+ degrees fahrenheit, little or no food, no power, shortage of medicines, no plumbing for 2,000 or so patients, staff, and family after 4 long days, exhausted staff, no information about where these critically ill patients would be transferred...what would you do if you were the doctor? Let them suffer?

One of my favorite bloggers is hanging up his keyboard
Duane at Blackinformant http://www.blackinformant.com plans to close down his site as of Friday July 21. This is sad news for me, since I really liked debating him. We didn't often agree, but I think those are the best people with whom to argue. Thanks for a good two years Duane!

Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt
...or be a blog strictly about cleansing colons prior to surgery or endoscopy. I needed a blog title, and it came to mind. When I was a surgery intern, we sometimes joked about ordering daily bowel preps for some of the more annoying patients. I'd like to think of this as more of a "mind" prep, since there seems to be too much shit flowing from the internet via MSM news (in med school MSM meant men having sex with men, took me awhile to figure that one out) right-wing blogs, left-wing blogs, spam, infotainment, faux news, etc. So here I am, just another person stepping onto my html soapbox screaming with the rest of the nuts. Feel free to correct me, I don't like to be wrong.

DMG