End-of-life consultations, cast as so-called "death panels" by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to discredit Democratic health care reform efforts, continue to fuel the fire in at least one U.S. Senate race: Utah's.

Last week, Sen. Bob Bennett was one of four Republicans during a joint session of Congress who stood and applauded President Barack Obama's dismissal of Palin's and other conservative critics' characterization as "a lie, plain and simple."

Bennett, a three-term incumbent, has three Republican challengers who hope to wrest the party's nomination from him next year.

"It is no surprise Bob Bennett stood with the Democrats and applauded Obama's attack on Sarah Palin," said Jason Powers, campaign spokesman for Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who entered the race in late May. "In Washington, D.C., you are known for the company you keep."

Powers also went after Bennett for S391, legislation he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.

"Bob Bennett's own health care proposal has a provision calling for end-of life clearinghouses," Powers said. "No one knows exactly what those clearinghouses would do or advise, but we do know Bennett wants to appropriate one million of our tax dollars to them each year."

The Bennett camp was unapologetic for the senator's pro-Obama moment.

"Bennett has been the victim of blatant false claims regarding his own health care bill, and he believes such misinformation is a disservice to the public," said his Senate Office spokeswoman Tara Hendershott. "Progress can only be made on this important issue when debating the facts."

The Bennett-Wyden Healthy Americans Act never mentions death panels nor anything like them, Hendershott added.

The bill's "clearinghouse" provision would simply establish a national toll-free hot line from which the public could learn about state laws regarding living wills, advanced directives and health care proxies, Hendershott said.

Jim Bennett, the senator's son and campaign spokesman, called the Shurtleff campaign's comments "flippant" and "disappointing."

"Senator Bennett is doing some heavy lifting to make sure conservative principles are applied to health care reform and it's disappointing to see a candidate use it as a political football."

In 2007, Utah lawmakers updated the state's advance directive laws because of improvements in medical technology since the 1980s, said Maureen Henry, executive director of the state's Commission on Aging.

"Death has become a choice," Henry said. "In the old days people died because their hearts stopped beating and their lungs stopped breathing. Now most deaths occur because there is a decision made to stop using technology."

For that reason, Utah's advance directive's law gives people the option to choose -- in advance -- whether they want to be kept alive indefinitely by machines and feeding tubes.

"Everyone should sit around their dining room tables and have this conversation -- and write it down," said state Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, who serves on the state's Commission on Aging. "We're so reluctant to talk about these important issues that affect our lives -- and also the cost of medical care."

Henry, a self-described conservative, called the current health care debate "tragic."

"It has made issues that are terribly difficult to address even more difficult by adding a level of suspicion that wasn't there before," Henry said. " It has added fear to an issue that is so hard under the best of circumstances."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com