Free The Protocol: A Prescription to Die by John P. Goetz Page B

have complete control. Now we just follow the instructions given to us.”
    Eat shook his head in disbelief. “You really have no input on anyone’s care?”
    “Very little,” Joey confirmed. “It’s all a matter of costs now. Minimizing them, to be more precise. Pharmaceuticals are dispensed three day’s worth at a time now. It used to be a thirty-day supply. All blood and urine specimens are sent off to Aequalis for analysis. The results are then entered and stored in the database. It becomes part of the medical record that we can see here,” he said as he waved the piece of paper. “This report tells us the results of the latest labs and physical.”
    “So what happens if she has a headache?”
    “If she tells me, I enter it into the system along with her temp and blood pressure. I can dispense things like aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen on my own but that’s it. Anything else has to be approved by Aequalis, and the IPAB.”
    “What if she falls and breaks her leg?”
    “The system would alert us that she has fallen, first of all. Then after a quick triage, we’d probably have to send her off to the ER at Eastside Medical. That’s the only Aequalis hospital in the area right now.”
    “But that’s all of the way across town. There are at least two others that are closer.”
    “Yes. But that’s the only way the government is going to pay for any claims. It will not cover any expense not approved by Aequalis and the IPAB. Word has it that all hospitals will be administered by Aequalis within the next year. They just haven’t had time to make the transition yet. Private hospitals and insurance are a thing of the past.”
    This was sounding way too Big Brother to Eat and he was actually starting to get concerned. He’d heard about the new health care law but hadn’t paid much attention to it. “You said there was more on the report that you were not familiar with?”
    “Yes. It mentions a protocol for your mother. Protocol U. I have no idea what that means. But I can find out and let you know. But overall, I think she’s doing fine. Nothing out of the ordinary for a woman of her age with Stage 6b Alzheimer’s.”
    “I know you are doing what you can. What about….”
    Eat was about to bring up what he perceived as a faster than normal deterioration of her memory, when a woman walked into Joey’s office.

Chapter 13
    Three weeks after the mad man crashed his soccer match, he was summoned to his commander’s office. Butch provided a precise, snap salute, and stood at attention at the commander’s office door.
    “Staff Sergeant Rheumy. Take a seat,” instructed his commander.
    Butch sat in the metal folding chair in front of his commander’s desk. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but could tell from the face of the man sitting behind the desk that it wasn’t good. He was a stern, straight-forward, no-nonsense guy. But Butch had never seen him look this rigid and uneasy.
    The commander looked down, and broke eye contact with Butch. That single action sent shivers down Butch’s spine, and confirmed to him that this meeting wasn’t going to be good. He just didn’t know why.
    “I need your weapon, Staff Sergeant.”
    “Sir?” said Butch while raising his eyebrows, but not his voice.
    “I need your weapon, Staff Sergeant,” he responded more sternly. He held out his hand.
    Butch acquiesced. He ensured the safety was on, that there wasn’t a chambered round, and placed it into his commander’s outstretched hand, handgrip first.
    “Sir?” Butch repeated.
    “Staff Sergeant Rheumy. You are under arrest for the murder of an Afghani civilian,” said the commander. He looked down to the paper in front of him, “An Afghani civilian named Mohammad Abu Detani,” he then motioned for the MPs. They were standing outside, and had apparently come into the office tent after Butch sat down. He hadn’t noticed them when he first arrived.
    “Please stand up, Staff Sergeant,” said one of