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Futile interventions

July 09, 2009 By: DancingSamurai Category: Links

#1 Dinosaur nails it:

I agree that there is no arbitrary age threshold above which any given medical intervention should be withheld. Treatment needs to be individualized based on the clinical condition of the patient.

The actual problem is that people in really crappy condition undergo all kinds of heroic interventions all the time, because they’re “so young!” Or because some hotshot surgeon thinks he can pull them through, because, yanno, his skills are so extraordinary they can overcome the effect of years of diabetes, smoking and inactivity. (Hint: no, they can’t.) Or because the family feels so guilty about neglecting poor demented granny in the nursing home that when she becomes septic and her kidneys fail, of course she need dialysis! You can’t let her die!!

Possibly related posts:

  1. Glenn Greenwald on the Bush mindset
  2. Panda Bear, MD’s hilarious take on clinical evaluations
  3. CAM definition creep…
  4. Steve Novella on Acupuncture
  5. Some interesting medical-ish links

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