This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Medical Practice  • Health Policy  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 148 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: The article by Dr Young and Ms Hade¹ indirectly addresses the controversial subject of viatical settlements. If postponement of death can be attributed to important dates, then a rational investor will accordingly discount his purchase price of the viator’s life insurance policy.

Viatical settlements and newer hybrids are controversial for obvious reasons: an investor purchases a terminally ill patient’s life insurance policy at a discount of the face amount to make a profit. The viator receives the discounted purchase price from the investor prior to his or her death, to be used at the viator’s discretion. Upon the viator’s death, the investor receives the proceeds of the life insurance. On one hand, value has been created for both parties if the contract has been made freely. On the other hand, the investor eagerly awaits the viator’s death: a disturbing thought counter to many cultural norms.

Mark G. Haug, PhD, JD
mhaug@ku.edu
University of Kansas School of Business
Lawrence

1. Young DC, Hade EM. Holidays, birthdays, and postponement of cancer death. JAMA. 2004;292:3012-3016. FREE FULL TEXT

JAMA. 2005;293:1592.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

Postponement of Cancer Death and Life Insurance—Reply
Donn C. Young and Erinn M. Hade
JAMA. 2005;293(13):1592.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Holidays, Birthdays, and Postponement of Cancer Death
Donn C. Young and Erinn M. Hade
JAMA. 2004;292(24):3012-3016.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT