Former U.S. Vice President
Dick Cheney had a heart transplant on March 24, 2012, "after five heart
attacks over the past 25 years and countless medical procedures to keep him
going. Cheney, 71, waited nearly two years for his new heart, the gift of an
unknown donor.”[1] At the time, more than 3,100 Americans were on the states’
waiting list for a heart. Of the roughly 2,300 heart transplants performed in
2011, 332 were over sixty-five. On average, heart failure was killing 57,000
Americans a year at the time, so just a fraction of those who could use a heart
get one. One might question, therefore, whether the 332 recipients who were
over 65, and Cheney, who was 71, should have been allowed to avail themselves
of the relatively short supply of available hearts.
The full essay is at "Cardiologists as Ethicists."
1. Kasie Hunt, “Dick Cheney Heart Transplant: Former VicePresident Recovering After Undergoing Surgery,” The Huffington Post, March 24, 2012.
