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 Pump Extends Lives, and Raises QuestionsNew York Times With tens of thousands of Americans dying of heart failure each year, and a dire shortage of donated human hearts, cardiologists have long dreamed of a device that could be permanently implanted in people too old or sick for a heart transplant. Now, the Food and Drug Administration is considering just such a machine. It is a $60,000 heart pump that experts say may extend the lives of as many as 100,000 people a year. But the decision is generating social and economic questions: who should get the costly pumps, who should pay for them, and are they worth the expense? |