
If someone had severe heart disease with multiple blocked coronary arteries, we wouldn’t think to deny them a quadruple bypass surgery that could save their life. It would have been better to catch their coronary artery disease earlier — and, in fact, there are many medications and less invasive therapies to treat hypertension, diabetes and early heart disease. But if a patient gets to the point of needing specialized, intensive care, our health-care system must provide it.