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December 1984 (Volume 62)
Quarterly Article
Anne A. Scitovsky
Sep 14, 2026
Sep 9, 2026
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Assertions that we now spend too much of our medical dollar on the dying often imply a ready target for cost-containment efforts: frequency and intensity of expenditures at the end of life, especially for the aged. But available, although meager data suggest there has been neither a dramatic rise in the last 20 years in the use of the hospital as a place to die, nor of widespread use of “heroic” interventions on behalf of those who die. Rather, very sick patients receive intensive and expensive care; our ability to project rates of survival vs. terminal patient status warrants caution in approaches to medical economy.
Author(s): Anne A. Scitovsky
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Volume 62, Issue 4 (pages 591–608) Published in 1984