Dr. Emanuel Hopes He Dies Before He Gets Old

Poor judgment.

The Population Health Blog can't discern another explanation for Ezekiel Emanuel's Why I Hope to Die at 75 article in The Atlantic.  Since leaving Washington DC, Dr. Emanuel has become safely ensconced at the University of Pennsylvania, where he can disclose what he was really thinking while he was helping to stand up the Affordable Care Act.

The Population Health Blog appreciates Dr. Emanuel's recycled nostrums on the quality vs. quantity of elder-years, Americans' unrealistic yearnings for immortality and medical over-testing. And, if the essay prompts patients and families talk to their doctors about end-of-life care, even better.

But those good points are far outweighed by four intellectual blunders:

1) The watershed age of "75" that is used by Dr. Emanuel is an average.  Many individual patients suffer declines in quality of living and life expectancy before as well as after that particular age. The PHB has been privileged to care for healthy persons aged 85 who have been correctly looking forward to additional years of rich and rewarding activity.

2) The "value" of a "poor quality" life is in the eye of the beholder. The PHB has also been privileged to care for very unhealthy persons over the age of 75 who remarkably treasure every day they are alive. Who is Dr. Emanuel to disagree with their decision-making?

3) While The Atlantic piece is about the writer's very personal views, they're not only arguably ageist, they're confirming the worst fears of the "death-panel" loonies.

4) Last but not least, real doctors know that healthcare preferences can change. That's especially true for end-of-life care, where yesterday's kitchen-table decisions routinely fail to account for today's emergency room realities. While Dr. Emanuel may hope he dies before he gets old, he should think on how the lyricists behind My Generation continue to rock decades later. He may live to regret his words.