Who Does Sarah Palin Think She Is??

Who does that Sarah Palin think she is? Have you heard her comments on health care reform lately?

Here she is suggesting that a pain pill could be just as effective as an operation for a pacemaker.

Seriously? I guess that's Alaska medicine for you!

Next, she suggested that doctors are running a racket on tonsillectomies!

Allergies? Your doctor is going to confuse allergies for a tonsilectomy? What is she talking about? Does anyone believe this?

Finally, her comment just last week about doctors' preferred treatment of diabetes: not treating the diabetes itself in order to make more money waiting for diabetic patients to need amputations. So I guess an ounce of prevention no longer equals a pound of cure?

Where is the mainstream media on this? Why aren't they calling her out on these blatant misrepresentations? Where is Sarah Palin's medical degree? Who does she think she is?

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In case you have not figured it out yet, the above was sarcasm. President Obama actually made those statements. Sarah Palin has commented on the health care reform Sec. 1233 calling its provisions for "end of life" counseling "death panels." This characterization brought howls of derision from the mainstream media and many commentators even on the right.  

Yet, as Palin herself points out in her recent facebook post, she is not the only one concerned about where these "end of life" (uh, that's called "death" right?) counseling sessions could lead. Palin notes:

As Charles Lane notes in the Washington Post, Section 1233 “addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones.... If it’s all about obviating suffering, emotional or physical, what’s it doing in a measure to 'bend the curve' on health-care costs?"

As Lane also points out:

Though not mandatory, as some on the right have claimed, the consultations envisioned in Section 1233 aren’t quite “purely voluntary,” as Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.) asserts. To me, “purely voluntary” means “not unless the patient requests one.” Section 1233, however, lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive -- money -- to do so. Indeed, that’s an incentive to insist.

Patients may refuse without penalty, but many will bow to white-coated authority. Once they’re in the meeting, the bill does permit “formulation” of a plug-pulling order right then and there. So when Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) denies that Section 1233 would “place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign,” I don’t think he’s being realistic.

But, I am sure this is NOT what the President intends, right? Government programs never have unintended consequences do they? Sarah Palin is such a fool! Meanwhile, our President continues to freely share his ignorance of medical protocol and procedure at the expense of doctors.

It is a strange world we live in.