Death Panels

In 1999 Texas governor George W. Bush signed into law the Texas Futile Care Law, now part of Chapter 166 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, which "allows a health care facility to discontinue life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of the patient or guardian ten days after giving written notice if the continuation of life-sustaining treatment is considered medically inappropriate by the treating medical team." The law could be described as an improvement over the previous regime which allowed a hospital to "simply" receive a court injunction to withdraw treatment without notifying the family.

Contrast that to what's being described as "death panels" in the current health care reform proposals: a requirement for caregivers to discuss (and presumably memorialize in signed documents) the wishes of the patients themselves, so ordinary people can express their preferences ahead of time in case they are put in such a position of incapacitation. Could that not be considered an improvement over what currently exists in Texas, where the treating medical team can make that decision for the patient and the family?