Conservatives Use The Devastating Case Of Alfie Evans To Falsely Discredit Single-Payer Healthcare

Not all babies get tears from Jimmy Kimmel. Got it. #AlfieEvans pic.twitter.com/ebt48exgod

— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) April 27, 2018

American conservatives such as Steven Crowder, among many others, have began using their ridiculously low level of understanding about UK healthcare and the harrowing case of 1 year old Alfie Evans in order to push back against the growing popularity of a single-payer system being implemented in the United States. Crowder has stated that "the state chose to let Alfie Evans die", which isn't the case whatsoever but that doesn't matter to people such as Steven Crowder, who has a history of lying to his audience.

While Crowder pretends that the UK Government had the final say on whether or not Alfie's parents would be allowed to take him from Alder Hay Hospital in Liverpool to a hospital in Rome that had suggested it could possibly save Alfie's life, that's simply untrue.

The Alfie Evans case was between doctors at the Alder Hay Hospital and the UK High Court of Justice (Family Division). Because of the fact that Alfie was suffering from an undiagnosed neurodegenerative disorder, the medical team at Alder Hay thought, to the best of their knowledge, that the best thing to do was to end Alfie's suffering and allow him to pass away peacefully, calling the parents wishes to keep Alfie on life support "unkind and inhumane".

Of course the case can be made that Alfie was an unwitting party in this legal battle as he has no idea what would be going on, much like myself and Steven Crowder. On one hand the parents wanted to do everything they could in order to save Alfie and prolong his life, while on the other hand the doctors knew that this was an undiagnosed disease and Alfie would most likely be living in extreme pain.

Alfie Evans in Alder Hay Hospital - (Image: PA)

Alfie unfortunately suffers seizures 95% of the time that physiotherapists are monitoring his condition, with 80% of those seizures as a result of him simply being touched. Medical professionals told Liverpool Family Court that Alfie's brain had shrunk because of the underlying 'untreatable' degenerative condition, which had left a "gaping black void" surrounding his brain, which would only get bigger as his brain degenerated. While making further claims that "the absolute consensus of every doctor in every country in this case that we are talking about with Alfie is terminal."

Alfie's parents, Kate and Tom at Liverpool Crown Court - (Image: Daily Mirror)

It is completely understandable for Alfie's parents to want to take any chance possible to prolong his life and felt like their son was essentially being held against their will, while the judge, Mr Justice Hayden, only had the doctors medical knowledge and opinions to rely upon. Mr Justice Hayden stated that "Alfie might die in transit. It's on my watch, and I've made it very clear that I don't like it." Mr Evans, Alfie's father, responded: "If we leave him in bed in hospital we are achieving nothing. There's less risks but there's still risks - he's getting infections."

Another way in which Steven Crowder is being extremely disingenuous with the facts surrounding the Alfie Evans case, as the Daily Mirror reports, there are several rumours being spread within the Italian media about the case, such as Alfie being denied life-saving treatment close to his death. So, what does Crowder do? Well, he publishes an article on his website also suggesting that the hospital and/or the State literally gave Alfie Evans a concoction of drugs which was what actually killed him. Completely unfounded of course, but that's just Crowder.

The article titled "BREAKING: Alfie Evans Given FOUR Drugs Before He Died", suggests the Alder Hay Hospital basically killed Alfie, with the writer even likening it to the "Obamacare Death Panels" which have been debunked more times than I've had hot dinners. The article on Crowder's websites links to 'LifeSiteNews' and guess what their source for this claim is? The exact same Italian media sources that the Daily Mirror reported on and that the parents asked that people not listen to or take seriously. So, Steven Crowder, you're full of sh*t, my friend.