Doctor did his best

      Sunday, July 22, 2001

      Doctor did his best 

            I am writing to say that I think it is a real shame how Dr. Robert 
      Weitzel has been cheated out of a fair trial by those prosecutors in Davis 
      County. You would think that after they were told by a medical authority 
      that they had no case, they would never have taken it to trial in the 
      first place. Especially since the medical authority was recommended by one 
      of their own experts.
            It seems obvious that the doctor was only doing the best he could, 
      given a bad situation. The way I see it, he talked to the relatives of 
      these demented, really sick patients and told them they were in a bad way 
      and asked if they wanted to keep on with all the medical care, or just 
      stop, and let them die in peace. That's not active euthanasia. I've seen 
      those charts on the Internet, and not one of those people died right away 
      after being started on morphine. How can that be murder? Those lawyers 
      ought to get out of trying to practice medicine. When I die I want to be 
      allowed to die in peace. I don't want a bunch of lawyers telling the 
      doctor how much medicine I can have if I need it to prevent a lot of pain 
      at the end.
            Now that the judge has overturned the trial where the prosecutors 
      cheated, I think that should be the end of it. I see where the lawyers are 
      in hot water for what they did. To let them keep on hassling the doctor is 
      not fair. It seems like they're just persecuting the man, now. What a 
      travesty of justice.

      Dean Bradshaw
      Salt Lake City

         
© 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company

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