Summary of the eRumor:  
There is an audio file from a segment of the Mark Levin radio show that is circulating the Internet. It contains a conversation between Mark Levin and a caller who identified himself as Jeff from Chicago, Il and claimed to be a brain surgeon.  The caller said that he had just returned from Washington DC where he had read over a document that said that patients were referred to as "units" and anyone over the age of 70 who subscribed to government medical insurance and needed stroke therapy or treatment for an aneurism would be given "comfort care."  Comfort care does not cure or treat illness but works on relieving symptoms and improving patient comfort.  One model of comfort care is hospice for terminal patients.
 

The Truth:  
The radio call aired on November 23, 2011 on the Mark Levin radio program but it is "factually inaccurate" according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), which posted a statement on its web site.  Click for statement.

The AANS reviewed the transcript and said that the organization was "unaware of any federal government document directing that advanced neurosurgery for patients over 70 years of age will not be indicated and only supportive care treatment will be provided."  The statement also said that. "the caller who identified himself as a brain surgeon is not actually a neurosurgeon, nor was there any session at the recent Congress of Neurological Surgeons’ scientific meeting in Washington, DC at which a purported government document calling for the rationing of neurosurgical care was discussed."


Audio and a transcript of the segment from Mark Levin radio program can be found on the Right Scoop blog website.  

updated 1/4/12

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