By Gary Schwitzer
In more than 7 years of blogging about health care messages affecting
the public dialogue, I don’t think I’ve ever written before about radio
call-in programs. But this one hit pretty close to home.
Nothing makes me more upset than people fear-mongering and lying about health care to suit their own interests.
I don’t listen to radio call-in shows, so maybe some of you who do can tell me how prevalent this is.
My 89-year old mother e-mailed me recently, forwarding a well-traveled e-thread that read like this:
- Be sure to listen to this. Chilling and scary!
- Behind closed doors in Washington there are some very evil forces at
work the depth of which we have no idea. Please listen to this chilling
report.
- Read this report on how 70-year-olds will be treated IF they have any neurosurgical medication or surgery problems.
Because I know she’s worried about my 91-year old Dad’s health and
his imminent need for medical attention for some problems he’s been
having, I listened to the audio clip she sent. After all, it was the
first audio clip she’s ever sent me. I didn’t know that she knew how to
send these. But then again, she didn’t load the audio clip. She was
merely forwarding an already well-traveled senior circuit call-in show
excerpt from the Mark Levin radio program. Levin’s website labels him
as:
“one of the top new authors in the
conservative political arena….a frequent guest and substitute host on
The Sean Hannity Show, and has also been an advisor to Limbaugh, who
frequently refers to him on the air with the nickname “F. Lee Levin.” He
is perhaps more well-known for his nickname, “The Great One,” coined by
his friend Hannity. Mark Levin is one of America’s preeminent
conservative commentators and constitutional lawyers.”
The “chilling and scary” part of the show came when a caller, “Jeff
from Chicago,” said he was a brain surgeon who just returned from
Washington.
“… where we were reading over what the
Obama health care plan would be for advanced neurosurgery for patients
over 70 which we all found quite disturbing … Basically what the document
stated was that if you’re over 70 and you come into an emergency room
and you’re on government-supported health care, that you get comfort
care.”
The host said, “Wait a minute. What document? And what’s the source for this?”
Brain surgeon “Jeff” stammered: “This is uh… the….uh….Obama’s new health care plan for advanced neurosurgical care.”
Host: “And who issued this? HHS?”
Brain surgeon “Jeff”: “Yes….and
basically for patients over 70 years of age, advanced neurosurgical care
was generally not indicated.”
Host: “Is this published somewhere?”
Caller: “Not yet. Not yet.”
Host: “So this was discussed just with your community, the neurosurgeons.”
Brain surgeon “Jeff”: “Exactly … the AANS
and the CNS …. the American Association of Neurosurgeons and the Congress
of Neurosurgeons.”
Host: “So Sarah Palin was right, we’re going to have these death panels aren’t we?”
The audio of that portion of the program has now been posted on YouTube.
So I went to the AANS website and here’s what I found:
Washington, DC – On November 22, 2011, an individual claiming to be a “brain surgeon” made several statements referencing neurosurgical care on a Mark Levin radio show segment. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) reviewed this segment and found that it contained several factual inaccuracies which we wish to clarify. The AANS and CNS are unaware of any federal government document directing that advanced neurosurgery for patients over 70 years of age will not be indicated and only supportive care treatment will be provided. Furthermore, in conducting our own due diligence, the caller who identified himself as a brain surgeon is not actually a neurosurgeon, nor was there any session at the recent Congress of Neurological Surgeons’ scientific meeting in Washington, DC at which a purported government
document calling for the rationing of neurosurgical care was discussed.
…We have requested numerous times that this podcast be removed from
Mark Levin’s website as it portrays inaccurate information which could
potentially be harmful to the patients that we serve.
My mother is afraid and confused. She is an example of the harm
described in the AANS statement. She was probably afraid to tell my Dad
what she had learned in this viral email thread with the viral audio
clip resurrecting the malignant death panel myth.
Whoever “Jeff” was, I hope he and his radio host – “The Great One” –
somehow someday get a glimpse of the harm their fear-mongering can
cause. I’m not talking about the power trip that show biz provides from
the safety of a studio taking calls on a cell phone spouting unverified
information from unvetted sources. I’m talking about the real world
with real old people like my mother who believe this crap and get
confused and upset and hurt in the process.
But, as with the original wildly false “death panel” claims, this story grew legs. I found pages and pages – dozens and dozens of search results from websites that passed along this hoax. Great for the ratings, right, “Great One”?