Urgent need for you to call Senators to oppose horrible Hospice & Palliative care Bill

Urgent need for you to call Senators to oppose horrible Hospice & Palliative care Bill

Hospice Patients Alliance Newsletter

Hi, We are sharing an urgent request from our friends at Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - USA working with pro-life attorney Sara Buscher.  The Congress is moving forward with the horrible PCHETA Bill we have mentioned before that would "etch in stone" the tainted form of hospice and palliative care that has so egregiously violated their original mission to provide life-affirming care.  We urge you to call the Senators listed. It really will help! Also, you can download Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA's statement at our HPA site (we uploaded it so you can easily view it): www.hospicepatients.org/opposing-pcheta-talking-points-nov-dec-2019-euth-prevent-coalition-usa.pdf This explains why the Bill is seriously flawed. Please share it with all your contacts, friends, and other pro-life advocates. Here is the letter from Sara Buscher, Esq and Nancy Elliott of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - USA: On behalf of EPC USA, Nancy Elliott and Sara Buscher are organizing a grass roots contact with key Senators to stop passage of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA). S.2080/H.R. 647. Both are in the Senate HELP Committee. Our talking points for opposing PCHETA are attached for your use. We have learned that the Senate HELP committee has decided to report S.2080 out or include its language in a public health bill before the end of 2019. The Senate has a floor period from December 2 through the 13. We plan to send letters to all the key Senators on Monday, December 2. We propose that your organizations rally your members to start contacting key Senators on Tuesday, December 3. Each senator is typically tallying the messages they receive on each side of each issue. The purpose of these emails/calls is to get a tally against the bill recorded. SENATORS' CONTACT INFO We are asking you to call or email the following Senators, especially Senators Alexander, Cassidy, Enzi, Paul and Capito. Their contact information follows and after that we have provided a sample Email and a sample Phone Call Script.   Senators on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: Senator Lamar Alexander, Committee Chair Staff: jennifer_boyer@help.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-4944 Senator Mike Braun Staff: reily_inman@braun.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-4814 Senator Richard Burr Staff: angela-wiles@help.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-3154 Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. Staff:rob_butora@cassidy.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-5824 Senator Susan Collins (she has signed on as a co-sponsor) Staff: amy_pellegrino@aging.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-2523 Senator Michael Enzi, Chair of Primary Health… Subcommittee Staff: amanda_lincoln@help.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-3424 Senator Johnny Isakson Staff: will_dent@isakson.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-3643 Senator Lisa Murkowski (she has signed on as a co-sponsor) Staff: anna_dietderich@murkowski.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-6665 Senator Rand Paul, M.D. Staff: zach_bennett@paul.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-4343 Senator Pat Roberts Staff: bryan_wells@roberts.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-4774 Senator Mitt Romney Staff: jess_pavel@romney.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-5251 Senator Bob Casey (said to be a Prolife Democrat) Staff: gillian_mueller@casey.senate.gov Office: (202) 224-6324 Not on Committee: Senator Shelley Moore Capito   (She is the Republican Sponsor of S.2080) Staff: dana_richter@capito.senate.gov Office: 202-224-6472 ----------------------------- SAMPLE EMAIL From the list above, find the email address of the Senator’s health care Staff. Address the email to this person. Copy and paste the message below and modify it to include a personal story about how this issue would affect your life: Dear Senator, I am writing to ask you to oppose S. 2080, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act and its House counterpart, H.R. 647, in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions where the bills are waiting for a vote. I ask you to oppose this legislation because: The bill could erase hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare fraud recoveries by leaving the definition of “serious or life-threatening illness” until after enactment. AND Palliative care is often a dangerous path to death for people not otherwise dying who could have years to live. The bill’s protective provisions in Section 5 will not stop the abuse and hastened deaths of people enrolled in hospice and palliative care. The first protection is not enforced because the federal agency authorized to do so, does not have the necessary data; the second protection (S. 2080 only) applies to the furnishing of care under the Act, but the Act funds education, research and public information, not the furnishing of care. OPTIONAL: Mention and attach Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA’s Talking Points. Add your own experiences or concerns. Thank you for your time. Your Name and Contact information. You can expect to get a form response or even no response, but know that each senator is typically tallying the messages they receive on each side of each issue. ----------------------------- SAMPLE PHONE CALL SCRIPT You can reach Senator’s office by calling the number we provided. A staff member in the senator’s office will probably pick up the phone. Your conversation will go something like this: Senator’s office. How can I help you? Hi, I am calling to ask Senator ________ to oppose S. 2080 and H.R. 647, two versions of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act and oppose them in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions where the bills are waiting for a vote. Then say just one sentence about how this issue affects your life to show the staffer that the issue means something to you. You could say this or just pick one of the two reasons. I ask you to oppose this legislation because: The bill could erase hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare fraud recoveries by leaving the definition of “serious or life-threatening illness” until after enactment.  AND Palliative care is often a dangerous path to death for people not otherwise dying who could have years to live. The bill’s protective provisions in Section 5 will not stop the abuse and hastened deaths of people enrolled in hospice and palliative care. When the staffer asks Can I get your name and address?  Provide your name and address so your call is counted.  Then say Thank you for your time. and you’ll be done!  Your goal is to be counted, so a quick and courteous call like this is all it takes. If you get voicemail, leave your name and address in your message. [end of letter] ### Thanks! All healthcare must be pro-life, otherwise it is not healthcare! Ron Panzer for Hospice Patients Alliance

Today is the 31 Month Anniversary of My Husband Bill Knightly's MEDICAL MURDER at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH

Today is the 31 Month Anniversary of My Husband Bill Knightly's MEDICAL MURDER. 
Life still isn't any easier and I doubt it ever will be.We were one, now I'm half the person I used to be. My outlook on life without My "Better Half" is filled with anger and disgust, just knowing that this State along with others does nothing to these Medical Murderers killing off our Loved one's. Will they put an end to these ILLEGAL Murders when it happens to one of their own? 
Money IS the root of ALL Evil and if you don't have a lot of it, you're doomed. You become expendable in the eyes of the State, who refuse to prosecute Medical Murderers. If there is any way possible you can afford you own Health Insurance, do it, because Medicare will NOT fight for your life to be saved OR fight for the Justice you or your Loved one deserves. They are a business and all they care about is saving MONEY, NOT LIVES. Pure Fact! My HUSBAND was just one of many Murdered by Money hungry Medical Un-professionals who denied him treatment and Murdered him instead just to save money and Medicare and the State just stand by and give them a free pass. Beware! You could be next!

My Husband, the Love of My Life will NEVER be forgotten!!!

Extremely Pissed off Wife of Bill Knightly, Murdered by Non-consensual, ILLEGAL Hospice/Palliative Care at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH.

Age No Excuse Not to Treat Lung Cancer, Even in 'Oldest Old'

Many patients aged 90 years or older who have non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are not offered any treatment at all, even though treatment improves survival odds substantially, especially surgery for earlier-stage disease, say researchers reporting a nationwide retrospective analysis.

"It is unclear why patients are not receiving therapy, but we speculate that ageism may be a factor," lead author Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD, Stanford University Medical Center, California, said in a statement.

Blood Tests Improve Efficiency of Lung Cancer Screening

Blood Test As a First Step, Followed by Imaging

One approach is to use a blood test as a first step. For example, using the novel, autoantibody EarlyCDT-Lung test. If this comes back positive, the next step is chest X-ray and CT scans.

The U.S. Gave Troubled Doctors a Second Chance. Patients Paid the Price.

Henry Stachura’s surgical career at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, N.M., ended the day a patient died after he operated on her abdomen. The case led to his fifth malpractice settlement in five years, court and licensing records show.

My Father and Hospitalists

My Father and Hospitalists

Have you or a loved one been admitted to the hospital lately? If so, did you notice that your own personal physician didn’t come to visit you? Did you notice that you were assigned a “hospitalist"? Welcome to the new world of Obamacare. In order to cut healthcare spending, hospitals and large physician groups are combining to drastically expand the Accountable Care Organizations. To maximize profits, hospitals are employing more physicians as hospitalists and subsequently squeezing out your personal doctor.

Hospitalists, PCPs bad at communication and its hurting patient care

We wish to focus on one glaring problem occurring in hospitals that is relatively easy to fix and whose resolution could improve outcomes. Currently, as many hospitals close their doors to primary care physicians (PCPs) and instead rely on hospitalists, there often is a lack of communication between these doctors that can lead directly to costly mistreatment. 

The Problem with the Hospitalist System

From a doctor's perspective, the major problem with the Hospitalist system is a lack of communication between the Hospitalist and the patient's primary-care doctor.   These doctors need to get to know each other and communicate regularly about the patient, especially if there are difficult problems or life-altering decisions to be made such as DNR status.  In 20 years, I have never seen a hospitalist call a primary-care doctor or vice versa. 

Should We Be Doing More Autopsies? YES!!!!!!!!!

Should We Be Doing More Autopsies?

'Much more can be learned from the dead'

Autopsies have been an important part of medical education and practice, but over the last 50 years they've been performed far less frequently -- and doctors may be missing out on useful information, according to a new perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Sepsis discovery could lead to new inflammation treatment

MANHASSET, N.Y., Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research Professor Ping Wang, MD, and colleagues have discovered a new way to reduce sepsis inflammation, according to a paper published in the latest EMBO Reports.

New blood test marks progress in battle against sepsis

A new blood test could save lives in the treatment of sepsis. It assesses five markers in the blood to predict who is at low, medium, and high risk of death. With this knowledge, doctors could start treating the serious condition much earlier and with more precision.