http://goo.gl/7tGwvP
"Defibrillators are life-saving therapies that have a lot of evidence supporting their use," says senior author Dr. Tracy Wang, an associate professor of cardiology at the Duke University School of Medicine. "But not every older patient wants one. There is a trade-off between the risks and benefits of the device. But current data suggests that we are grossly underutilizing this therapy."
ICDs shock the hearts of patients back to pumping if they experience a sudden cardiac arrest. These arrests can be fatal; according to the study authors, more than 350,000 people experience sudden cardiac death in the US every year. Research suggests that as many as 80% of these patients were eligible for ICDs but did not have one implanted.