I suspect the title language was deliberately inflammatory. As one who was involved in renal care for 18 years, I have spoken with people who actually remember death panels.

These people were allowed into dialysis because the panelists considered that they met specific criteria of living "valuable lives." At that time, average survival rate on haemodialysis was 8 years. One of my especial friends survived that period and lived on dialysis for about 40 years, becoming the first person to complete college and medical training while under renal care. He did not get his first transplant until he had been treated for more than 30 years.

There is no reason to reject death panels as described. The greatest expenditure of medical monies is that which occurs in the inevitable losing battle of the final months of a person's life, at the end of which the husk of the former person, having had massive efforts expended on preserving "life," is finally allowed to expire without dignity.