I copy the following affidavit of Dr. Richard P. Delaney M.D., whom I personally know and respect, wanting to place it in the “place of encounter” Benedict XVI describes in his key note address to the Synod (on The Word of God) of October 6, 2008. Benedict wrote the following: “All is created from the Word and all is called to serve the Word. This means that all of creation, in the end, is conceived of to create the place of encounter between God and his creature, a place where the history of love between God and his creature can develop. "Omnia serviunt tibi". The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing which happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motive for everything, the motive for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and his creature.”
In the light of that, it seems that the medical doctor, especially in his personal attention (which is ever decreasing) to the sick person, is undoubtedly a Christ figure in his redemptive attention to the whole person. What needs saving is soul and body. “Feel me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Lk. 24, 39). Jesus Christ is the prototype of man and rises from the dead. The doctor is the Redemptive Christ of the body. It is not mere positivist science that heals but the man, and the relation to the patient. I recall St. Exupery wanting his doctor to look at him, puffing pensively on his pipe, walk around him, spread his handkerchief on his back; then, palpating vigorously, listening, declare him healthy – or not. He wants the man to deal with him.
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FORT THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
SUPPLEMENTAL AFFIDAVIT
STATE OF
COMES NOWRICHARD P. DELANEY, M.D., and makes affidavit as follows:
“We are more privileged, more blessed a state than we can know. Should we allow the culture of socialism to have its sway, we will have handed over a way of life based on true freedom – freedom of soul, mind and heart. Handed it over for what? Chains! This is neither hyperbole nor dramatization for effect. If we permit a centralized government to control a physician’s freedom to choose the most beneficial treatment of that patient, another onerous link will have been forged. What then might not be mandated by the state? The government’s lawyers claim that I have no ‘standing.’ In this single manifestation of the destruction of that traditional deep bond (the doctor/patient relationship) existing between me and my sick patient, I see freedom being stolen from us; the trust that my patient places in my hands violated by bureaucracy. That bureaucracy takes no responsibility for the outcome and has no compassion for the pain and worry that illness brings. I am forced to practice my art deficiently by am told that I have no standing to say so. There are examples of many such invasions into the interplay between the sick, anxious patient and the concerned, compassionate physician apparent through this medical care catastrophe dubbed “Health Care Reform.’
“To say that I have no standing calls to mind a tragic cartoon. The doctor is tied hand and foot to the railroad track while the juggernaut train bears down on him at ram speed. Yet the doctor may not petition the engineer to stop. After all, tied down as he is, he has no standing. Who are they who render this negative on ‘standing?’ What have they studied of anatomy, physiology, inorganic and organic chemistry, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, psychology, psychiatry and all other subjects which form merely the pre-education of the aspiring doctor? The physician’s clinical education, by far the most taxing, is yet to come. The clinical training, in fact, never ends. It has been well said (Sr. William Osler) that medicine is learned at the patient’s bedside. It is a truth that no doctor, however long his practice, however eminent his station, can ever afford to neglect. It is a truth that certainly will be forgotten should the President and Congress force their brand of medicine on the rest of us. ‘Standing’ refers to personal impact by or involvement in some particular affair. My profession, mo vocation, my business, my very identity is deeply involved in and defined by the practice of medicine. It will be permanently disrupted by any of the various medical plans concocted behind closed doors and supported through bribery and blackmail. I have attached some of these invasions as an addendum to this statement. Please review the cased cited in the addendum. They are a sample of but a few of the instances in which the government is trying to capture the practice eof medicine to aggrandize power to itself. It is not true to say that I have no standing in opposing this. That train is heading my way.
Richard P. Delaney, M.D.
State of
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 17th day of March, 2010, at
Notary Public XXXX commission expiring 4/21/2012
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The following are some summaries (the ones with parenthetical comments by Delaney) of relevant provisions of page 30 through 498 of the health care bill addended to Dr. Delaney’s comments above. They were crafted by Dr. Stephen Frazier, M.D. of
Page 30 Sec. 123HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides treatments/benefits. (Delaney: “Directly interferes.”)
Page 42: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you (D: “Direct interference”).
Page 58: Govt will have real-time access to individual’s finances and a ‘National ID Health card’ will issued. (D. “Strong effect on all medical practices”).
Page 84 Sec. 203: Govt mandates all benefit packages for private HC plans in the “exchange” (D: “Direct interference”).
Page 85, line 7: Specification of Benefit Levels for Plans - The Govt will ration your health care! (D: “Direct interference”).
Page 102, lines 12-18: Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid (No choice). (D: “Affects all medical practices”).
Page 127, lines 1-16: Doctors/AMA – The Govt will tell you what salary you can make. (D: “This to me is a form of slavery”).
Page195: Officers and employees of the Govt HC Admin., will have access to all American’s finances and personal records. (D: “This ruins patient confidentiality”).
Page 239, line 14-24: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Senior. (D: “Directly interferes”).
Page 253, line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor’s time, profession, judgment, etc. (D: “More slavery, Direct interference”).
Page 265, Section 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for ‘private’ HC industries: (D: “More slavery”).
Page 268: Sec. 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs. (D: “Direct interference. My patients cannot get wheel chairs” [etc.]).
Page 280 Sec. 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e., re-admissions). (D: “Direct interference and threats”).
Page 298, line9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission – the Govt will penalize you. (D: “Direct interference and threats”).
Page 317-318, lines 21-25, 1-3: Prohibition on expansion. The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand. (D: “Direct interference”).
Page 354 Sex. 1177: The Govt will restrict enrollment of “special needs people.” (D: Truly unbelievable interference. Some of these wonderful people are my patients”).
Page 379, Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a “Tele-Health Advisory Committee.” (D. “Scary and interferes).
Page 425 lines 4-12: The Govt mandates “Advance-Care Planning Consult.” Think senior citizens end-of-life patients) (D. “Scary and interferes”).
Page 425 lines 22-25. 426, lines 1-3: The Govt provides an “approved list of end-of-life resources guiding you in death.” (D: “Scary and interferes in a big way”)
Page 427 lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on “end-of-lie.” The Govt has a say in how your life ends). (D: as above)
Page 429 lines 1-9: An “advanced-care planning consultant” will be used frequently as a patient’s health deteriorates. (D: “as above”).
Page 429 lines 10-12 An “advanced care consultation” may include an order for end-of-life order. (D: “as above”).
Page 430 lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life. (Again – no choice) (D: “as above”).
Page 489 Sec. 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy (which Govt intervention in your marriage)…..
Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services….
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