In reply: Jelinek rightly draws attention to the need, when caring for patients with acute coronary syndromes, to distinguish disease-related risk from age-related risk arising from frailty, comorbidity, physical disability, cognitive impairment, depression, social isolation, age–treatment interactions, and quality of life. All these factors affect treatment goals in older patients and may, as we conceded, justify withholding certain treatments in individual cases. However, even after accounting for “wise compassion”, under-treatment is still likely because:
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- Department of Internal Medicine, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD.
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