After they towed my car away to the garage, Joe, the mechanic, called me. ”The news isn`t too good, Sylvia. The engine`s pretty badly damaged, but I can fix it so the car still runs.”
”Runs how, Joe?”
”Well, you`d be able to get her up to about 10 miles an hour.”
”Listen, I hate to do this, but there`s no choice. Let`s admit it, the best thing to do is to scrap it.”
But Joe fixed the car anyway so it would run-just. Then he sent me a bill for $1,000. I refused to pay.
What would happen if hundreds of relatives simply refused to pay, or instructed their insurance company to refuse to pay, when the ”life” of their loved ones in a permanent vegetative state was artificially prolonged against their wishes and against those they are sincerely convinced to be the patient`s? Would the hospitals continue to keep patients alive at their own cost?
