Heart Surgery

Re “Reducing the Trauma From Heart Surgery,” May 26: As the daughter of a man who has had traditional bypass surgery (as well as two angioplasties), I was excited to read about new keyhole heart surgery that significantly reduces patients’ recovery time. At the same time, I was horrified by Dr. Steven Colvin’s comment that this technique “produces tremendous savings for the employer.” Since when has the goal of surgery been to benefit the patient’s employer, rather than the patient?

Worse yet, your writer seems to share Colvin’s perspective: He comments repeatedly on how quickly each patient he interviewed was able to return to work, but never how quickly they were able to fly kites with their children, hug their wives, or walk through their gardens. I know that we live in a workaholic society, but surely the point of heart surgery is to give people a chance to live their lives, not to work their jobs.

JULIA GRODY

Sherman Oaks