Day 253 - 21 May 96 - Page 26
1 Q. It is about 5 or 6 years longer for women; is it not?
2 A. Yes, but when one becomes 74, one perhaps wishes it was
3 84! But the major problem is young people dying of heart
4 disease and ----
5
6 Q. It various, does it? It obviously varies according to what
7 age you have already reached which is illustrated by your
8 survival past the age of 5 point?
9 A. Yes, indeed.
10
11 Q. There are tables in Kemp, for instance, which give
12 insurance companies and things, but I did not want to set
13 off a chain of enquiries because my recollection was that
14 the life expectancy is over 70 which is why I asked: Why
15 65 for these purposes?
16
17 MR. MORRIS: Is it clear that we are talking about death here
18 rather than disease?
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Somewhere, either Professor Naismith
21 said or an extract was read from a report which defined
22 premature death as death before the age of 65, and since my
23 recollection that the life expectancy, in this country
24 anyway was now into the 70s, I wondered if Professor
25 Naismith could help on why 65 and he has given his answer
26 to that.
27
28 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It all arose in my mind because Professor
31 Naismith is not the only witness to say that we have all
32 got to die some time and it is premature death which
33 matters rather than running out of steam, for some reason
34 or another, at a good age.
35
36 MR. MORRIS: The words complained of refer to "disease"
37 specifically.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but obviously I am interested in what
40 kills people before what might be thought to be their
41 natural life.
42
43 MS. STEEL: That is also a question of whether they are kept
44 alive by treatment methods that are new.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I need to get my mind round these features and
47 I wanted to understand how 65 came into the picture, that
48 is all.
49
50 MR. RAMPTON: I am grateful. Professor Naismith, Mr. Morris
51 said yesterday -- I do not know whether it was a joke or
52 not -- but anyhow it touches o what he and Ms. Steel have
53 been saying just now. He, Mr. Morris, said that he would
54 like to die of old age. Do people die of old age,
55 Professor Naismith?
56 A. Well, some people have suggested that this is the
57 explanation for the French paradox that this is what French
58 physicians put on the death certificates, but I do not
59 know. This has been seriously suggested and there is
60 serious under recording of cardio-vascular events in
