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I think I've seen this House episode before. Spoiler alert: The chick dies in the end. Seriously though, with these new types of procedures I feel like we need

by skizm 12y ago

I think I've seen this House episode before. Spoiler alert: The chick dies in the end. Seriously though, with these new types of procedures I feel like we need another checkbox next to the organ donor one that says: "Try risky medical procedures if the attending doctor honestly thinks it gives me a better chance of living with no permanent brain damage when compared to conventional treatment." Or probably something a little more succinct.

digitalengineer 12y ago
How about: "I reserve the right to have my life terminated if I come out of a procedure with no brain activity"? Edit: From the older discussion on HN: "Assuming they (patients) have been getting 'good' CPR for the 10-15 minutes the ER team spent attempting to resuscitate them, there is still a good chance that their brain was not being perfused."
- gonzo 12y ago
  CPR is nearly worthless, but not always.
  - Retric 12y ago
    A 2+% chance to either save a life or reduce the chances of brain damage is worth ~20 minutes. And that's for a full recovery the odds of a partial recovery can be as high as 50%. http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/health/cpr-lifesaving-stats/ http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/health/cpr-lifesaving-stats/ With current thinking you don't even need to do mouth to mouth disease transmission is a vary low risk.
- mikeash 12y ago
  That's just a living will. Anything done after the procedure can be more deliberate. You only need the shortcut of a checkbox on your ID for things that need to be figured out right away.
s1300045 12y ago
I agree. I am more than okay for them to try anything possible if I was already dying. I am an organ donor already, why not? At least they tried and the process would be a part of a greater study to improve modern medicine. I am curious how much organ they could still harvest after performing such procedure though.
- Fuxy 12y ago
  It should be harmless to the organs. If they can be carried around in a freezer I'm sure they won't get damaged from being injected with freezing salt water.
waylandsmithers 12y ago
I like something more along the lines of "Trust the judgement and expertise of medical professionals, especially in emergency situations."
- skizm 12y ago
  Well they need to know your wishes. If this procedure has a 60% success rate but 95% of those people only survived with 75% brain function would you want it done? Vs a procedure that has a 10% success rate but 95% of people who survived had complete brain functionality restored. Personally I'd want to take the 1/10 chance, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who would want to live even if it meant diminished mental capacity.

by skizm 12y ago

digitalengineer 12y ago

How about: "I reserve the right to have my life terminated if I come out of a procedure with no brain activity"? Edit: From the older discussion on HN: "Assuming they (patients) have been getting 'good' CPR for the 10-15 minutes the ER team spent attempting to resuscitate them, there is still a good chance that their brain was not being perfused."

gonzo 12y ago
CPR is nearly worthless, but not always.
- Retric 12y ago
  A 2+% chance to either save a life or reduce the chances of brain damage is worth ~20 minutes. And that's for a full recovery the odds of a partial recovery can be as high as 50%. http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/health/cpr-lifesaving-stats/ http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/health/cpr-lifesaving-stats/ With current thinking you don't even need to do mouth to mouth disease transmission is a vary low risk.
mikeash 12y ago
That's just a living will. Anything done after the procedure can be more deliberate. You only need the shortcut of a checkbox on your ID for things that need to be figured out right away.

s1300045 12y ago

I agree. I am more than okay for them to try anything possible if I was already dying. I am an organ donor already, why not? At least they tried and the process would be a part of a greater study to improve modern medicine. I am curious how much organ they could still harvest after performing such procedure though.

Fuxy 12y ago
It should be harmless to the organs. If they can be carried around in a freezer I'm sure they won't get damaged from being injected with freezing salt water.

waylandsmithers 12y ago

I like something more along the lines of "Trust the judgement and expertise of medical professionals, especially in emergency situations."

skizm 12y ago
Well they need to know your wishes. If this procedure has a 60% success rate but 95% of those people only survived with 75% brain function would you want it done? Vs a procedure that has a 10% success rate but 95% of people who survived had complete brain functionality restored. Personally I'd want to take the 1/10 chance, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who would want to live even if it meant diminished mental capacity.