Suicide Inc.
by
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Stimson's frown changed into a cynical smile, which he held for a moment before saying, 'There were actually two incidents. The same hospital counselor was involved in both. This was a person who worked with patients and their families on financial arrangements and insurance issues, counseled them about lifestyle adjustments related to illnesses--things like that. In one instance, he tried to influence a family into stopping life support. But that wasn't discovered until Kroll Associates did their investigation.
'The major incident involved offering to arrange suicide for a terminally ill patient. Supposedly, the patient's family would not only save unnecessary medical costs, they would get money back. The hospital was to share some of the savings of not having to treat him.'
'Hell of a marketing strategy,' Dan wisecracked.
'A form of economic euthanasia,' Stimson said dryly. 'Certain people--not just the seriously ill--use a disproportionate share of social services. The elderly. The poor. They receive more medicare, social security, and welfare dollars than they ever paid in taxes. Why not give them the option of a painless death on demand? Society would save a great deal of money. In return, an appropriate share of those savings would be passed back to their designated beneficiaries. The idea has been around for some time.'
Dan was fascinated in a macabre sort of way. 'Whose idea is this?'
'I don't know who first put forth the proposition. The subject resurfaces in the more scholarly sociological journals whenever there's a perceived crisis about rising social-services costs.' Stimson paused, shrugging indifferently. 'The concept will come into its own one day--if and when the implementation can be properly controlled.'
What he was talking about went way beyond the usual humanitarian motive of the assisted suicide proponents. Take away the monetary tie-in, and it was death on demand, which was consistent with Dan's original thinking on the subject. But more and more flaws in that position were starting to surface.
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About the Book
Dan Antinori, a former corporate executive turned management consultant, has moved to Maine to distance himself from a violence-plagued past. As a favor to his girlfriend Cas, he agrees to assist her old college roommate, the ravishing Melissa Ives. Melissa's estranged husband, Howard, recently killed himself for no apparent reason, and Dan agrees to oversee Howard's company until it is sold.
Sparked by a tip from the wife of a health-care bureaucrat that Howard's death was not a suicide, Dan gradually uncovers a chilling conspiracy. Working in complicity with the health care czars of three New England states, a national medical services company is promoting and offering assisted suicide to non cost-effective patients. But the 'death on demand' practice goes far beyond the voluntary or traditional concept of euthanasia.
As he begins to expose the scope of the conspiracy, Dan finds himself in a life-threatening battle against a sophisticated corporate security force, a homicidal bureaucrat, and a complacent political administration at the highest levels.