[ExI] wheelchair driving drunk

[BillK]

On Sat, Dec 28, 2013 at 7:38 PM, spike wrote:
> Look at this from a different point of view: what if you are one who enjoyed
> two glasses of wine per day on average for most of your life, and you end up
> in a memory care unit.  Now they really can't allow you to drink much, since
> they know that just one drunken fall can be fatal to a geezer.  So you enjoy
> the comforts of alcohol all your life, but right at the end when you really
> could use some chemical comfort, it isn't available.  Does that sound right
> to you?  Doesn't to me either.  Prohibition went out in the 1930s.  We are
> re-imposing it back on those who were born during those dark days.
>
>

Spike, the docs will never accept alcohol transfusions for these patients.

They have drugs to treat pain and depression and anxiety. The usual
side-effect though is drowsiness, so patients end up being asleep for
most of the time. Patients should not be allowed to be in pain, though
if they are unable to communicate, it can be difficult to treat them
appropriately. As one cancer doctor said to me, when we are
considering pain relief as part of end-of-life care, then drug
addiction is not a problem. Pain can always be relieved.


BillK