Being old and sick are not licenses that lead, in any straightforward way, to acquiring access to life sustaining medical services. The performance by which the elderly person presents his claim to services must be taken into account. Of particular importance is that the patient express an aspiration to get well, and be willing to seek help and cooperate with those who are technically competent. In the absence of these accords, the elderly patient may be discredited as a sick individual and be relegated, instead, to a near death status.
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