Medicare patients who are fitted with mechanical heart pumps to assist them with pumping blood frequently visit hospitals thereby paying huge medical bills. Death rate is also higher among patients fitted with this pump says a new study.
Wrong use of this device is the reason in spite of its great potential and promise. It is found to be increasingly used at wrong hospitals on wrong patients. Some patients who are beyond cure are unnecessarily fitted with the pump. Certain hospitals which are not equipped with complex care and expertise necessary for treating such patients use this device according to a research report published on Wednesday’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
These pumps are referred to as the VAD or the Ventricular Assist Devices. Introduced in the year 1990, they are used to keep patients who are waiting for heart transplants alive. It is also used to relieve symptoms and prolong life of patients on whom heart transplant procedure cannot be performed. People who have undergone cardiac surgery and yet are not cured are also rescued with the help of the VAD. VAD costs between $11,000 and $75,000 depending on the complexity.
This device is used as a replacement to the weak heart muscles which are unable to pump sufficient blood due to heart failure. Around five million people in America suffer from this condition and at least 287,000 of them succumb to it. Some of the causes for this condition include coronary artery disease, heart attack and high blood pressure.
