My new favorite writer, surgeon Atul Gawande, who wrote the current best seller, "Being Mortal." wrote an article in last week's "New Yorker" on the same subject, titled "Overkill."In the article he tells about a time his mother (who is also a doctor) fainted in the Kroger's grocery store. EMTs transported her to a hospital eighty miles away where doctors did an ultrasound, and a cardiac catheterization, neither of which revealed anything.
Only then did someone ask her history and discover she was dehydrated.
This is a good example of how a huge number of us oldies receive treatment that is simply a waste. Researchers call it "low-value care."
Dr. Gawande says in his article that "In 2010, the Institute of Medicine issued a report stating that waste accounted for 30% of health care spending."
Dr. Gawande's in the forefront of a movement to help us oldies have a much healthier and happier life, followed by a peaceful death. I'm all for this.
One of the things he talks about in the article is over testing. He describes cancers as sometimes turtles (slow growing) and sometimes rabbits (fast growing.)
If I'm 90 years old and have a "turtle" cancer I think I'd rather spend my money on a cruise with my friends and let nature take its course.
***
