Did Cheney Really Deserve That Heart Transplant?

#1
myrobbins7

myrobbins7

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#1
Sinking to a new low in their disdain for Dick Cheney, the hosts on Monday's NBC Today wondered if the former vice president should have received a recent heart transplant, with Ann Curry declaring at the top of the broadcast: "...even though he has waited longer than most to receive his donor heart, some are questioning whether someone that old should be getting one..." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

NBC: Did Cheney Really Deserve That Heart Transplant? - NBC - Fox Nation
 
#2
#2
they're just mad they cant call him a heartless bastard anymore
 
#12
#12
71 yr olds should only get hearts if there are no matches that are a lot younger. Harsh, but true.

At least as long as we use the current system of organ matching.
 
#14
#14
volinbham said:
Remind me to not put you in charge of healthcare - I thought you were a libertarian?
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I am, but the current system of matching organs is decidedly not. If we are to use the current system, then a 71 yr old should not get one. He got it because of who he is and that is wrong.
 
#15
#15
RespectTradition said:
I am, but the current system of matching organs is decidedly not. If we are to use the current system, then a 71 yr old should not get one. He got it because of who he is and that is wrong.
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Who are you comfortable vesting that decision making authority with? Government agency?
 
#17
#17
RespectTradition said:
71 yr olds should only get hearts if there are no matches that are a lot younger. Harsh, but true.

At least as long as we use the current system of organ matching.
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Mickey Mantle abused his liver for years... gets moved to the front of the line and dies not too long after the transplant.

Don't ever believe money and fame don't count for jack squat when it comes to transplants, people.
 
#18
#18
RespectTradition said:
The market.

But there is no market in transplants... so we are stuck with what we have for the moment.
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I'm just trying to understand the logic of saying under our current system a 71 year should be denied a transplant when the current system doesn't deny that. So are you advocating the current system should? If so, what would the decision mechanism be?
 
#19
#19
Rasputin_Vol said:
Mickey Mantle abused his liver for years... gets moved to the front of the line and dies not too long after the transplant.

Don't ever believe money and fame don't count for jack squat when it comes to transplants, people.
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sure it does but Cheney didn't appear to get bumped up - he waited longer than average for a transplant.
 
#21
#21
volinbham said:
I'm just trying to understand the logic of saying under our current system a 71 year should be denied a transplant when the current system doesn't deny that. So are you advocating the current system should? If so, what would the decision mechanism be?
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The way my cardiologist explained it to me is that they basically have an informal formula. The idea is to maximize the life of the heart. Don't transplant it into someone who has a lower life expectancy if there is someone who is projected to live longer with it. Youth is given preference over age.

I am not saying it should work that way, but as long as the system uses this time of logic, then it should apply that logic consistently and not give breaks to the Cheney's and Mantle's of the world.
 
#22
#22
RespectTradition said:
The way my cardiologist explained it to me is that they basically have an informal formula. The idea is to maximize the life of the heart. Don't transplant it into someone who has a lower life expectancy if there is someone who is projected to live longer with it. Youth is given preference over age.

I am not saying it should work that way, but as long as the system uses this time of logic, then it should apply that logic consistently and not give breaks to the Cheney's and Mantle's of the world.
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right but we don't know the situation for Cheney - the doc may feel that Cheney will live as long as the transplant lasts.
 
#23
#23
volinbham said:
right but we don't know the situation for Cheney - the doc may feel that Cheney will live as long as the transplant lasts.
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If.

I would bet on preferential treatment as the more likely culprit.

Do you think I am wrong? or are you just giving him the benefit of the doubt?
 
#24
#24
RespectTradition said:
If.

I would bet on preferential treatment as the more likely culprit.

Do you think I am wrong? or are you just giving him the benefit of the doubt?
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I think he got beneficial treatment to some degree but this article does a good job of explaining:

Analysis: Cheney waited longer than average for heart transplant | Reuters

1. average wait is 6 months to a year. Cheney waited 20 months.

2. the 20 months and his age indicate that he is otherwise in very good health and as this article suggest he could live a decade or more with the transplant

Overall, I most uncomfortable with blanket statements that "x" age is too old for any given treatment. He met all the requirements and didn't get bumped to the head of the line - to the contrary, he had a long wait.

I certainly don't like the notion of a government panel making the guidelines for when someone is too old for "x" treatment.

"Dick Cheney's overall risk would probably be a bit higher than a 60-year-old, but the most important thing would be the function of his organs, which we analyze in great detail," Kirklin.

Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam, chief of cardio-thoracic surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center, said his hospital has been doing transplants on increasingly older patients.

"They're not that different. The key is co-morbidities," he said, referring to other chronic conditions that affect the health of the transplant recipient.

Older patients undergo a rigorous evaluation and are screened for cancer, neurological abnormalities, kidney and liver dysfunction and other problems.

Jeevanandam said a 71-old-year-old man has a 10-year survival rate of 60 percent to 65 percent. "I can't predict how Cheney will do," he said.

EXTENDING LIFESPAN

Assuming that Cheney's kidneys and other organ systems were working properly at the time of the transplant and he suffers no issues with organ rejection, the latest procedure could extend the former vice president's life by a decade or so, said Dr. Randall Starling, a specialist in cardiac transplants at the Cleveland Clinic.

"They have to be an excellent candidate without significant risk factors because age itself is a risk factor," Starling said.
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#25
#25
more from the article

Some 3,000 Americans are on the waiting list for a heart transplant on any given day, and only about 2,000 donor hearts are available each year, according to the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute.

"He waited quite a long time -- nearly two years on a device. Even though the waiting lists are very long, that would be an extended wait for a heart transplant," Kirklin said.
Click to expand...
 
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