A Question of Worth
Dr. Eijean Wu is a gynecologic oncology fellow at the University of Southern California Medical Center, and was a finalist in the 2011 Costs of Care Essay Contest. As an OB/GYN resident, I tried to reconcile quality and cost of care every day. This is the story of one patient who cost the system a lot of money, but I don’t know to this day if it was too much. Cheryl (name changed) had HIV, a history of cervical cancer, and 3 kids. At age 35, she had been cured from cervical cancer after surgery and radiation therapy. However, due to treatment-related fistulas, she had been in and out of the...
Read MoreHealthcare Reform & End-of-life Costs
When President Obama’s chief budget deputy Peter Orzag announced the stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), he mentioned that the U.S. spends $700 billion each year on medical tests that don’t help patients get healthier. Policy analysts have long known that much of this seemingly wasteful spending occurs during emotionally challenging moments at the end of life. We often are willing to spend the most on those who are the sickest–even when it is unlikely to make them better. Given the highly sensitive situations involved, most politicians have been...
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