Hospitals Should Let More Elderly Patients Die

In an interview with BBC-4, consultant cardiologist James Beattie (Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust in Birmingham) argues that hospitals should let more elderly patients die.  



Several papers report on the radio interview.  The Daily Mail title is provocative: "Let More Elderly Die . . . Patients with Low Quality of Life Should Not Be Saved."  Salon reports with the less provocative title "Let the Dying Die."



But the sensationalism is misplaced.  The statistics and recommendations are familiar.  Still, they remain under-addressed both in the UK and in the USA.