Tuesday 9 June 2009

Staggered


Did a nurse really just say on radio 5live, that smokers should be made to pay for treatment, and if they can't afford it that they should be allowed to die?

Yes, she did.

Might do more on this later




7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah the caring profession.

Sack the bloody woman.

DaveA said...

If the NHS wants to opt out of me, surely I have the right to opt out of the NHS, get a refund of my taxes and go private? I think the average will be well ahead, probably 7 times better off.

RantinRab said...

So basically the standard of care you will receive from this 'nurse' hinges on whether he/she agrees with the choices you have made in your life?

Indeed, sack the cretin.

Sue said...

I agree with DaveA. If the NHS refuses to give smokers health care, then they should be allowed to opt out of contributing to the National Health Service. The money that they´d save, would fund the best private health care. At least you could be certain you didn´t come out sicker than when you went in...

Cheeky buggers, the continuing sham that is this unelected, unwanted, undemocratic, socialist scum of a government.

Anonymous said...

No one ever seems to consider the amount of tax on tobacco as payment to the NHS, but it must surely be a major contribution and exceed the cost of treating smokers for tobacco related medical care.
Never, ever heard of a medic suggesting that anyone should be refused treatment. Not ever!

Anonymous said...

Who else would not be treated by the saintly NHS
Drinkers, fatties, sport fanatics, SICK people ???

They make me sick.

Mr. A said...

Annonymous @ 16:28.

That's not quite true. ASH consider that figure, hence their recent estimate (I mean, invention) that "smoking related illnesses" cost the NHS 5 billion a year, some 2.5 times what the Government has been saying for years. Even this figure, which they admit includes all cancer treatment, all heart disease treatment (because you see, ALL these diseases are caused by smoking in ASHland) is half what smokers pay in tobacco duty, not including what 15 million smokers pay in the NI and income tax that everyone else pays.

The true shame to this story is not what she said (we expect such Nazi-esque Eugenics from the Righteous, don't we?) but the fact that she wasn't instantly sacked in a storm of controversy. THAT is the really scary thing about this. Her comments are considered to be almost normal such is the level of anti-smoking brainwashing in this country.

It would be interesting to see if there had been the same reaction if she had been talking about letting disabled babies die or if she had said the genetic diseases caused by close-family marriage in some elements of the Asian community meant that they should just go off and die, too.

I suspect, however, that that would be considered "unacceptable."

But smokers? Fuck 'em.