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Comment by digitalengineer | Hacker News Reader

Do you think your (grand)father/mother is in pain? This is what some experienced nurses ask you in Holland when you're sitting by your loved ones on their deathbead. If you say "yes, I do", they will increase the morphine. They might ask again later. (Only when it's obvious they are dying and are already in coma).

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Sorry, I accidentally downvoted this comment instead of upvoting it.

Totally understand. The arrows are really tiny.

I upvoted you to compensate for their misclick.

According to some papers branch of medicine dealing with pain-killers is on a much lower level in the Netherlands than in the US. The reason is pretty obvious. Who will pay for pain-killers in socialized medicine when you can ask if they are in pain, if they want to die, and here we go! The state just saved thousands!

A major artery ripped open in her head as she was preparing to go to bed. The blood, now unleaseh, flowed through the brain reaking havoc. She wasn't very old, but she knew this migh happen to her, as it did to her brother and sister. This was why she emailed her daughter every morning, to tell her she was okay. Until that last morning. When we awoke we rushed to her home. A neighbour had already warned the ambulance. He heared her slowly bang on the door in the early hours as he was walking his dog. The police broke had down the door. She couldn't move het legs, or talk. By the time she was rushed to the ER and they had made a scan of the brain she was already slipping in to coma. There was nothing anyone could do anymore. We had to wait until the blood reached the part of the brain that is responsible for your breathing. We waited by her side as she was slowly, very slowly dying. The nurses said "it wouldn't be long now" Her breaths were becoing slower and shallow. After a full day of waiting we watched her face become blue, grey and blue agian. I once read the ability to hear is the last thing to go, so we told her in kind, gentle words it was okay, she could let go, she needn't worry about anything anymore. She could let go... Finally after eight hours of painfully taking short breaths her body gave in. She had passed away... Would a dosis of morphine been a bad thing? I don't know but I would have fucking wanted it if it was me on that bed.

You could make the same non-sensical argument against insurance companies in the US, or a symmetrical argument about providers torturing patients to run up the bills for more procedures.

Or you could stop trolling.

Not trolling. Just tired of people believing in socialized medicine. Ask Canadians waiting months or even years for live saving surgeries. Lech Walesa had a heart surgery done recently. In the USA. He brags all life how good socialized medicine is, but when it is him, he doesn't do it in Poland. Not in UE countries like France or Germany. Not in Switzerland. He goes all the way to the US. Socialized medicine doesn't work in contrary to the propaganda in the USA. Death panels are daily thing in places like Polish hospitals where my mother in law worked. There is just this much money from the state - for a single one heart surgery every 3 months. And when you have on average five patients - who will get it done becomes function of a bribe. Ever heard of a government department with sufficient funding for their operations? And instead of calling me a troll please google the issue. See how many cancer patients in Canada don't get timely treatment because of the cost. Where - mind you - time is the single most important factor when fighting cancer.

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