Name: Running from Death #9: Against the Callahan-Nuland Anti-Life Proposal
Category: Policy, Economics, Philosophy
Date Added: 08 July 2011 - 02:33 AM
Submitter: G. Stolyarov II
Short Description: Mr. Stolyarov refutes the claims made in the New Republic article "An Old Approach to Health Reform" by Daniel Callahan and Sherwin B. Nuland.
Mr. Stolyarov refutes the claims made in the New Republic article "An Old Approach to Health Reform" by Daniel Callahan and Sherwin B. Nuland: http://www.npr.org/2...o-health-reform
Nuland and Callahan manage to commit every major economic fallacy and suggest every major moral outrage - including that human beings should deliberately limit their longevity to age eighty, that some lives are not worth living, that individuals should be sacrificed for the good of the collective, that the desire to drive down costs should take precedence over the desire to save lives, and that the fight against death cannot be won. They advocate massive central planning and artificially imposed restrictions on research and technology. The Nuland-Callahan proposal is the direct antithesis of the movement for indefinite life extension.
The claims Callahan and Nuland make deserve to be discussed and debunked in depth, and Mr. Stolyarov does just this in this longest broadcast yet in the "Running from Death" series.
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Mr. Stolyarov will also answer intelligent listener questions and arguments in subsequent broadcasts. Post them as comments here or send an e-mail to gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com
References:
* "Medical Technology and the State" - by Gary M. Pecquet: http://www.thefreema...-and-the-state/
This article explains why technology-related medical costs have risen despite the otherwise strong tendency of technology to drive down costs. The answer: numerous interventions into healthcare at the federal level.
* "The Man Who Had HIV and Now Does Not" - by Tina Rosenberg: http://nymag.com/pri...ds-cure-2011-6/
The remarkable story of Timothy Brown, whose HIV disappeared completely - and whose case may shed some light on a way to cure this disease in the future.
* "The FDA and Methuselah" - by Peter Huber: http://www.forbes.co...ghts_print.html
Article on how the FDA's criteria for approving drugs are holding back progress in human life extension.
* Debate between S. Jay Olshansky and Aubrey de Grey on life extension:
- Article by Olshansky: http://news.bbc.co.u.../uk/4059549.stm
- Article by de Grey: http://news.bbc.co.u.../uk/4003063.stm
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