A Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center physician was at the heart of a "60 Minutes" program on Sunday night that raised a provocative issue about dying ... and the cost thereof.
And it begs the question whether we can change the character of dying so that it doesn't bleed the health care system the way it does now.
The issue is the cost of end of life care and how extraordinary measures to keep the dying alive amount to about $50 billion last year, an expense that, left unchecked, will be an economic back breaker, particularly for Medicare.
To read the comments that are attached to the "60 Minutes" story -- which was entitled "The Cost of Dying" and filmed at the medical center in Lebanon -- is to understand that this is a very charged issue.
On the one hand you have people arguing that we are owed every chance at life, no matter the quality of that life or the cost of maintaining that life.
On the other hand are the people who believe we need to recognize death as a part of life and that extraordinary, costly measures don't add to the quality of a life.
Dr. Ira Byock, the physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, was blunt in his assessment that "denial of death at some point becomes a delusion."
"Families cannot imagine there could be anything worse than their loved one dying. But in fact, there are things worse. Most generally, it's having someone you love die badly," Byock said to "60 Minutes."
According to "60 Minutes," a majority of Americans say they want to die at home, but 75 percent die in a hospital or a nursing home.
So, it was asked, are we being saved by medical technology or being prevented from dying a natural death? Is it worth the cost to extend a natural death by a couple of days, a couple of weeks, several months?
Watch the "60 Minutes" segment here.
For more information:
Dartmouth-Hitchcock news release about "60 Minutes" segment
Comments
Recap on Health reform: Benefits wouldn't begin until 2014 and current taxes would increase almost immediately. The public option would subsume private care; the federal government would ration care; that medical choice would be reduced drastically, federal funding for abortion; intending to cover illegal immigrants; millions would remain uninsured and penalized, to boot; and medical quality would be reduced seriously; and overall costs would increase — Obama's support for the bill should be in the single digits. Now go have a drumstick.
The episode "The Cost Of Dying" hit home at our house big time. If the doctors would cease and desist with tests after tests after tests that are of no help, can't cure or fix my sad, tearful, very ill, uncomfortable, bed ridden, terminally ill husband with lung cancer just maybe he could have some peace, and "let go" to go to that "better place" we all hear about and end up going to sooner or later. All he is getting from the medical profession is false hope.
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