Lessons of a $618,616 Death

[stevenaa]

Interesting look into the final stages of life and the healthcare costs involved.


http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_11/b4170032321836.htm

It was sometime after midnight on Dec. 8, 2007, when Dr. Eric Goren told me my husband might not live till morning. The kidney cancer that had metastasized almost six years earlier was growing in his lungs. He was in intensive care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and had begun to spit blood.

[twa]

Sad story

Looking back, memories of my zeal to treat are tinged with sadness. Should I have given up earlier? Would earlier hospice care been kinder? I hadn't believed Terence was going to die so I had never confronted any of those dilemmas. And I never let us have the chance to say goodbye.

I think had he known the costs, Terence would have objected to spending an amount equivalent to the cost of vaccine for nearly a quarter million children in developing countries. That's how he would have thought about it.

But when I ask myself whether I would do it all again, the answer is—absolutely. I couldn't not do it again.

This unfortunately is all too common and is a issue that will need to be addressed with healthcare reform.

It will no longer be a issue of I,but rather a expanded WE.

Welcome to the hell of choice and modern medicine.

[zoony]

Should these choices be made by those emotionally invested, private insurance companies, or society as a whole?

...

[HOF44]

Should these choices be made by those emotionally invested, private insurance companies, or society as a whole?

...


I say Death Panels. ;)

[zoony]

I say Death Panels. ;)


dam- you sprung the trap :ols:

[Jumbo]

dam- you sprung the trap :ols:

I have a real problem with the term "Death Panels."

How about "Expiration Date Stampers?"

[Larry]

I have a real problem with the term "Death Panels."

How about "Expiration Date Stampers?"

"Best if used by"?

[HOF44]

Maybe The Termination Tribunal???

[Larry]

Should these choices be made by those emotionally invested, private insurance companies, or society as a whole?

...

Best person to make the decision: The person involved.
2nd beat: The person whom the patient designated (if any), or Next of Kin (if the patient didn't designate anyone).

I also know that this is likely to get me branded as a heartless money-grubber (maybe even Republican), but I do think that somewhere "The person paying the bills" should be on the list.

I don't like the possibility that life and death decisions will be made based on ability to pay.

But I also have to admit that medical science has progressed to the point where we can probably keep a week-dead corpse "alive" for 50 years, if we spend enough money. Do we give grieving spouses/parents/children/whatever the right to demand that the taxpayers pay "whatever it costs", forever?

[Corcaigh]

I have a real problem with the term "Death Panels."

How about "Expiration Date Stampers?"

It's pretty simple ... you're given the opportunity to demonstrate that you're a useful member of society by catching a seal, whale or fish.

If you're unable to complete the task by the end of the week you're left adrift on an ice floe.

That's the way we do things here in Virginia.

[Corcaigh]

Or it could be like NFL overtime - coin toss.

[Jumbo]

It's pretty simple ... you're given the opportunity to demonstrate that you're a useful member of society by catching a seal, whale or fish. If you're unable to complete the task by the end of the week you're left adrift on an ice flo

I grew up in Alaska. Nostalgia. :)

[ABQCOWBOY]

Each Family, to their own needs.

[twa]

Should these choices be made by those emotionally invested, private insurance companies, or society as a whole?

...

By those with a vested interest, but then paying for it is the main sticking point there ain't it?..as well as tying up personnel and equipment.

The Termination Tribunal is a good one,I ain't heard that one :ols:

[stevenaa]

Each Family, to their own needs.

Or should it be to each family based on their ability to contribute to the costs? It's a tricky issue.