I hate to be short with someone, but did you bother to read this? I mention it because of, Moreover, living longer is not older people’s only concern, or even

I hate to be short with someone, but did you bother to read this? I mention it because of, Moreover, living longer is not older people’s only concern, or even their primary one, Dr. Rosenthal pointed out. “We don’t ask patients often enough, ‘What’s important to you?’” The primary though should be understanding what the patient wants. The patient might accept risk of death for quality of remaining life. That is a classical dilemma for a pacemaker in the eldery. And it is simply a calculated, rational risk. The problem is when patients are not given the all their options and realistic risk for each (including the risk of no action). edit: and I take this for granted, but a pacemaker can improve quality of life substantially. When it corrects a heartbeat it can prevent vertigo, falls, broken bones, and any other number of incidental effects of irregular rhythm. It is not a defibrillator.