Readers Join Debate on Medical Ethics

After reading your articles, my wife and I thought it might be helpful to let you know that there are some happy endings to some of these stories.

Fifteen months ago we had to experience these questions with our newly born son, who contracted a viral infection at birth. Thank God for the staff at (Childrens Hospital Orange County) neonatal intensive care. The opportunity of using the ECMO procedure presented itself as one of our only options for saving our son’s life.

It’s my opinion that the staff and all the equipment necessary is worth every dime they charged for this procedure when the results came back with a perfectly healthy child like we have now. I can speak from experience about the costs because all totaled, the bill came to about $150,000. Thanks for some great insurance companies, too!

These are tough questions to answer at a time when your thinking is not very objective during a crisis, but I know that our entire family feels thankful for all the joy our son has brought to our lives.

STEVE & DIANE ABOURISK, Trabuco Canyon