Who should MDs let die in a pandemic? Report offers answers

Tip, don't get old or sick.

They include the very elderly, seriously hurt trauma victims, severely burned patients and those with severe dementia.

clipped from hosted.ap.org Doctors know some patients needing lifesaving care won't get it in a flu pandemic or other disaster. The gut-wrenching dilemma will be deciding who to let die. Now, an influential group of physicians has drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients wouldn't be treated. They include the very elderly, seriously hurt trauma victims, severely burned patients and those with severe dementia The proposed guidelines are designed to be a blueprint for hospitals "so that everybody will be thinking in the same way" when pandemic flu or another widespread health care disaster hits, said Dr. Asha Devereaux. She is a critical care specialist in San Diego and lead writer of the task force report. But the recommendations get much more specific, and include Those with severe mental impairment, which could include advanced Alzheimer's disease. People older than 85 CHEST: http://www.chestjournal.org U.S. Govt.: http://www.pandemicflu.gov