The 93 year old former U.S. Surgeon General Everett Koop claims falsely that the United Kingdom's health care system would consider seniors "too old" to qualify for the artifiial joints, heart pacemakers, and stents that he's received in the U.S.
FactCheck.org clarifies the record.
U.K. guidelines make clear that patients of "any age" may receive pacemakers, for example. And in fact, official statistics show 47 patients aged 100 or older got new or replacement pacemakers in a single recent year.
Koop, who held office during the Reagan administration, makes his false claim in a TV spot by the conservative 60 Plus Association. We asked 60 Plus to substantiate the claim but received nothing that backs up what Koop said about joints, stents or pacemakers being denied based on age. A spokeswoman for the U.K.’s Department of Health states that Koop’s assertions are "not true."
The ad is part of a national cable media buy of $400,000, according to the 60 Plus Association.
FatChek.org contacted a non-profit in the U.K., Age Concern and Help the Aged. The groups press office "pointed us to government statistics stating that "the over 65-year age group acounts for two in every three" hip replacements performed in the U.K.
A U.K Department of Health spokesman flatly told us that "it is not true that anyone aged over 59 years cannot receive heart repairs, stents or bypass surgery on the basis of their age." The spokesman added: "The NHS Constitution states that the NHS provides a ‘comprehensive service, available to all irrespective of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.’ "
Age Concern’s press office also told FactCheck.org "the group had never heard of a prohibition on heart surgery for patients aged 60 and up."
We sent a copy of the Koop ad to U.K. Department of Health Press Officer Julia Harris to ask about his claims. "The Department of Health can confirm that this is not true," she said.
Factcheck.org asked the 60 Plus Association for backup for the ad’s claims. Instead of addressing the three claims they pointed to three clippings that have nothing to do with its claim:
■ A newspaper story about a U.K. government report on abuses at nursing homes.
■ A newspaper story about some doctors in England expressing concern about a hospice approach that allows doctors and caregivers to focus on comfort instead of life preservation at the end of life.
■ A 2006 newspaper story about a then-new bone cancer drug, Velcade, that was not approved for use in England (though it was available in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) because of a concern over cost and effectiveness. However, the drug was approved a year later.
Wonder how many falsies he's performed in his lifetime.
He is 93. M
ReplyDeleteReminds me of when Investors Business Daily editorialized that the physicist Stephen Hawking would be dead by now if he lived in Britain.
ReplyDeleteWhich he does.
The life expectancy in Britain is two years longer than here; they must be doing something right, when it comes to keeping older people alive.
Furthermore Hawking himself refuted that and credited the British health system for his being alive at all.
ReplyDeleteI always suspected Koop was in it for the cool uniform. This verifies that.
ReplyDeleteThey can't win the argument on its merits, so they HAVE to lie, deceive, dissemble.
ReplyDeleteLook who their hero is: the functioning imbecile, Glenn Beck.
I wonder how long it will take for this talking point to turn up in the Republican cannon of falsehoods and scare tactics.
ReplyDeleteMy happiest day will come when some previously died-in-the-wool wing-nut stands up and says, "They've been lying to us all along." We'll applaud and that poor soul will be tarred and feathered.
ReplyDeleteWhat?!? Republicans lie?!? Tell me it is not true!!!
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ReplyDeleteMy mother had open heart surgery (in England) when she was 68, we knew, she knew, and the National Health Service (NHS) knew, the surgery was only adding 2-3 years to her life. There was never a question raised by the NHS about whether she should have it or not.
ReplyDeleteJC: All you have to do is look down to see for yourself.
ReplyDeleteHolte: I wrote a blog about health care in Canada and the NHS in England back in July.
It boggles the mind that there is so much lying, that there are so many stupid people who believe these lies, and that these people have no interest in checking the facts or doing research. I guess they consider listening to the most ill-informed talkster to be research, who knows.
http://parsleyspics.blogspot.com/2009/07/health-care-in-britain-and-canada.html
Wait, did I read that right? 47 over 100 years old get pacemakers every year??
ReplyDeleteCrikey, they live forever over there, don't they??
Koop was a boob, still is, BTW.
ReplyDeleteBee: To live past 100 years? Must be the climate. Glad to see you out and about after your days of frustration.
ReplyDeleteActually, former Surgeon General C. Everlasting Coot is right. Under British healthcare, we would not get a joint, a pacemaker, or a stent, but he would qualify for taxidermy.
ReplyDeleteIf conservatives/Republicans had to confine themselves to telling the truth, the history of the last 30 years would completely different, and we'd all be better off as a result.
ReplyDeleteWith all the lies Republicans have spread about British and Canadian health care systems, it's a wonder our relations with them aren't in the toilet.
Republicans lying is part of their strategy. Here is a link to Keith Olbermann discussing Frank Luntz's master plan to defeat financial reform.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677#35226707
An honest Republican is an Oxymoron.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information! It’s a mystery to me how the party of “moral values” can justify lying. (Dick Cheney couldn’t open his mouth without lying.)
ReplyDeleteI’ve noticed that conservatives now claim the fact-check sites are all “leftist sites.” They don’t let TRUTH get in the way of their indoctrination, do they?
As for your hope that a Republican will come forward and expose the lies, many have. David Brock wrote “Blinded by the Right,” then founded the fact-check site “Media Matters for America.” Bill O’Reilly calls Brock’s site anti-American, despite the fact the site uses direct quotes to document the lying.
Keep hoping: one day a lemming will fly! BJ
Thanks to everyone for your comments. I've been busy covering the Tea Partiers.
ReplyDeleteBJ: I didn't know that about Media Natters. I've gone there often but wasn't aware of their history. Interesting.
To all of you, thanks so much for coming by. The lies just get bigger, don't they?
"Natters?" Oh my.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!! I hate typos that jump out at you after publication! "Media Natters" reminds me of Spiro Agnew who the media "nattering nabobs of negativity." That was when reporters were attempting to question him about Watergate and before he lost the vice presidency in a scandal. BJ
ReplyDeleteAgmmanure was just your average honest politician! I thought of him when I caught the mistake and wondered if the modern-day media wimps would dare attach a similar tag to any of the well deserved politicians of today.
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