Longer looks: When is a life too long?; The rising cost of children's health care

May 25 2012

Every week, KHN reporter Shefali S. Kulkarni selects interesting reading from around the Web.

New York Magazine: A Life Worth Ending
I will tell you, what I feel most intensely when I sit by my mother's bed is a crushing sense of guilt for keeping her alive. Who can accept such suffering-;who can so conscientiously facilitate it? ... In 1990, there were slightly more than 3 million Americans over the age of 85. Now there are almost 6 million. By 2050 there will be 19 million-;approaching 5 percent of the population. ... By promoting longevity and technologically inhibiting death, we have created a new biological status held by an ever-growing part of the nation, a no-exit state that persists longer and longer, one that is nearly as remote from life as death, but which, unlike death, requires vast service, indentured servitude really, and resources. ... The longer you live the longer it will take to die (Michael Wolff, 5/20).

CNN: Cost Of Children's Health Care Hitting Families Harder
[Heather Bixler] was leaving her New York apartment with her 4-year-old daughter and infant son, who was in a baby carriage. ... The doorman, perhaps just to play around, picked up the stroller and held it almost vertical. Sean, the baby, fell out. His head bashed against the marble stair. ... Two years ago, the seizures started. So did the never-ending medical expenses. The Bixler family is just one example of how a child's chronic illness can strain a family emotionally and financially -- and children represent the fastest growing health care spending group in America, according to a new report (Elizabeth Landau, 5/21).

Time Magazine: Why Some Medical Students Are Learning Their Cadavers' Names
At Indiana University Northwest, an IU branch campus located in Gary, Ind., anatomy professor Ernest Talarico instructs his medical students to probe beyond the nerves and muscles of the bodies lying on their examination tables and think of the cadavers as their "first patients." ... His students also typically exchange letters with family members to glean more information about their patients' medical histories, hobbies and interests. ... While Talarico has won praise from many of the individuals involved in the program, he's also raised concerns among critics who question the ethics of his teaching technique (Dina Fine Maron, 5/17).

PBS NewsHour: Baby's Tumor Means Surgery Before Birth
Before Cami was born, a huge tumor began growing from her lower body and injured her hips and internal organs. To save her life, doctors had to operate on Cami en utero, half her body still inside a special incision in her mother Tami Dobrinski's womb. ... Cami's tumor, called a sacrococcygeal teratoma, is just one example of an uncommon category of tumors and cancerous growths that can occur in unborn children -- a teratoma like hers occurs in only one in 35,000 infants. ... hospitals that don't specialize in fetal care are not always familiar with all the possible treatments for rare conditions (Monty Tayloe, 5/18).

ABC News: Truvada Helps Couple Cope With Reality of Love and HIV
Nick Literski, 45, and Wes Tibbett, 39, have been together for six years, and their bond is strong. But when Tibbett was diagnosed with HIV in 2009, it was a major blow to the Seattle couple. Tibbett became terrified of giving the virus to Literski. ... According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, correct and consistent condom use greatly reduces the risk of HIV transmission. So does being in a monogamous, long-term relationship. But Tibbett and Literski still worried. Then both men started taking a daily pill, Truvada (Carrie Gainn, 5/21).