March 17, 2019 – Hemlock Society of San Diego Meeting
Heart failure is the #1 cause of death in America. All of cancers put tobether do not equal the mortality of congestive heart failure.
If you are over the age of 60 you have a 10-15% chance that at some point in your life you are going to have congestive heart failure.
Medicare costs for heart failure are in the billions of dollars every year. 40-50% of all patients discharged from the hospital are readmitted within 30 days because of the recurrence of symptoms of congestive heart failure.
This video discusses heart failure, treatment, and how one can make end- of-life decisions for end stage heart failure.
Speakers:
Harris Effron, M.D., retired cardiologist; Lisa Heikoff, M.D., hospice/palliative care; and James Sinclair, M.D., oncologist/palliative care physician will talk about heart failure, transplants and mechanical devices, details, risks, benefits, outcomes, making decisions regarding hospice/palliative end-of-life care for end-stage heart failure.