THE HUFINGTON POST

Kathleen Reardon

Professor, USC Marshall School

Posted: August 10, 2009 08:06 PM

The "Death Panel" Already Exists!

When insurance companies deny coverage to critically ill patients because of what they deem "pre-existing conditions," they sentence those people to misery and often death. And that has nothing to do with proposed health care reform. This travesty exists now.

When acutely and chronically ill people are unable to purchase medicine because of exorbitant prices, pharmaceutical death panels have spoken. And again, this has nothing to do with universal health care proposals.

When an infant is stillborn because of inadequate or nonexistent prenatal care, a cancer patient forgoes or is denied treatment because of costs, a family is forced to decide whose medical needs will be met -- whose postponed, don't tell me somewhere a death panel isn't at work.

Sarah Palin is supposedly worried that people are going to die if health care reform occurs. They're dying now! Right under our noses!

Instead of what could be, let's talk about what is. Instead of fiction, let's discuss reality. And instead of President Obama responding to wild attacks from fabricators as if deserving of reasoned responses, let's hear him describe the death panels we have now and how much worse it is going to get if only the lucky and the wealthy have health care.

Dr. Reardon also blogs at bardscove.