Why Your Older Loved One May Want to Skip That Cancer Screening

i would consider that type of treatment to be elder abuse. when someone is at an age where the prognosis of "long-life" is longer than the life expectancy, there is no reason to do the procedure. same goes for testing for those conditions. rule of thumb: if the test/procedure does not contribute IMMEDIATELY to the quality and longevity of life, then forego it.

I think this is good advice. Too often, we just blindly follow the doctor's advice without looking at the bigger picture. It's also great to know there are guidelines for situations such as these. Along the same lines, I think we should question prescriptions. I don't think doctors always take into consideration, how a person's age or weight can impact how a particular dose of a medicine might impact a 5 foot tall, 90 year old woman versus a 6 foot tall, 70 year old man.