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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (66802)	11/10/2004 11:21:05 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Theoretically, if the kidneys keep working, or with dialysis, and if the liver doesn't get shot from all the drugs we use (esp. the heavy duty antibiotics), and if life-threatening pneumonias can be avoided, and if we keep the oxygen low enuf that we don't rot the lungs, a long time. We could probably do it for years, until old age itself intervenes. I wouldn't think very long with Arafat, considering his age and pre-existing conditions; couple weeks, maybe, but even our patients constantly surprise us, so who knows about somebody I only here about thru the media. Pretty cruel thing to do. Pretty expensive, too. I think we charge about $2300/day, just for a vent. My end of it,assuming vigorous, but not special care (eg, no trips to CAT Scans with manual bagging and a charge for our time),could easily run 3.5 grand/day; 4-6 treatments per day at 100 bux, maybe some chest physical therapy, maybe an EKG at about $250, at least one blood gas at about the same price. I'm not sure what we charge for an ICU bed, all the X-rays and blood work done on a routine basis, etc. All this is why the bulk of the medical costs occur in the last year of life. WR