16 year observation: Lack of ethics worsening.

LearningCurve, on the other side of the coin there are many very lovely and highly professional medical and caregiving places. It all depends on where one lives. If you live in an area with limited resources, there isn't much completion, thus some of those places will do the very least [not saying an one horse town won't have excellent care, many do].

For me using euthanasia would be when I can no longer be a contributor to society, when my mind is totally out of whack, and/or my body racked with incurable diseases.

Learning Curve, I have not shared your experience. Within my own family I have had many relatives who were non-compliant with MD's who persistently asked them to lose weight, get exercise, decrease their alcohol intake and eat sensibly. Some of them are ticking cardiac time bombs. Others have destroyed their own livers and compromised their kidneys. Some are losing their eyesight and their memory functions from high blood pressure and marginal sugar. A majority of patients are the architect of their own demise. So sad.

I suppose South East Michigan must be the exception. From what I have seen, greed is the only driving factor and ethics are to be avoided.
Do you truly trust these individuals? Have you ever questioned the actions/inactions or motives? Do you have confidence in these professions to care for you when the time comes?
I do hope we are not deceived into thinking this is all OK and corporate policies are motivated by real compassion.

LearningCurve, what do you mean by *greed*? Every business needs to make a profit to survive and to expand, and I know some people would call that greed.

Gone are the days of the doctor with the little black bag, all his tools were in that one bag. Today with modern technology doctors have to keep up thus the cost of said items create a huge price overhead... doctor groups try now to be self sufficient so that the patient isn't running to a have dozen different places to have medical testing. Believe me, I can appreciate that.

Out of all the doctors that I have seen [it's been many in the past few years], my sig other has seen, and my parents have seen, all have been outstanding. The doctors have been different ethic backgrounds, different races, different religions, and different genders. I am still trying to convince my parents that doctors who are women are just as smart as doctors who are male, it's just my very elderly parents' generation talking.... [sigh]

Your phase "corporate policies" makes me think of the health insurance companies, and we've all had our challenges with that. But with regard to the to people we've relied on for care, my family has been treated by some of the most incredibly kind, smart docs around. We have a neurologist who personally returns message we leave her. We have an oncologist who gave my loved one his cell number to use if she had questions in the days before surgery. A gastro doc who gave me detailed daily updates on my husband's status. I've seen nurses who were amazing, and one who even took the time to comfort me thru a meltdown.
Yes, I do have confidence in these people.

Linda22: You are truly fortunate not to have been treated by the caliber of individual my mother and I have been subjected to.
frequentflyer: Profits are required but the rape of taxpayers via Medicare and Medicaid for unneeded procedures is rampant. How often does your charge visit the doctor? Monthly, weekly as some would wish here for no other reason than to bill for another office visit? Have you really not seen abuses?

For my husband's care (10 years with dementia), my mother's care (now 94, severe arthritis, broken hip that won't heal, dementia), my son's care (recent serious motorcycle accident), and my own care (depression, diabetes) I have dealt with all kinds of health care providers in all kinds of settings. I can't think of any examples of non-ethical behavior. I've seen a few instances of what I consider sub-standard competency. I've been driven absolutely mad dealing with insurance (private and gov't) bureaucracy. But would I have confidence in these people caring for me? Yes! Especially if I got some as good as the ones I've dealt with in the last decade. Perfect? Certainly not. What is? But darn good.

Would my mother have been better off if she had killed herself 9 years ago, so she wouldn't have to be cared for in the health care system? Her children certainly don't think so, nor does she. She intends to live to 100, like her sisters have.

My husband often wished he had died young when he got dementia. But health care enabled him to have the best quality of life he could. He (and I) loved and trusted his doctors. It was the disease that was awful, not the care.

LearningCurve, if you still feel this way at age 85, I hope you will have the options you want. Better yet, I hope you will get into a situation without so many unethical care providers.

Thank you jeannegibbs. When mom eventually passes we will be moving from this area ASAP. There is some serious evil at work in MI these days.

I'm so sorry that you've had these experiences, LearningCurve. I just saw a list of the US cities with the highest crime rates. Two cities in Michigan made the list. Ouch. I guess it isn't surprising that a general feeling of lawlessness, frustration, and lack of ethics may begin to permeate the culture. There may be some serious evil at work in MI these days. I am so sorry. I hope that gets turned around within your lifetime!