They failed his ...

Question

HiWhen a doctor says: They had failed their first or second bypass ... because they were too sick for these procedures ....Does it mean they operated on them but didn't manage to do it successfully?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

NewguestDoes it mean they operated on them but didn't manage to do it successfully?

Actually, the use of 'fail' there does not make sense to me. Could there be a typo or some words omitted in error?

Newguest · Answer

Hi

Here's a longer passage:

The doctor says: As my late brother-in-law said, they were the walking dead. They had failed their first
or second bypass; they had failed their first or second angioplasty. They were too sick for these procedures
or they had refused them, and five were told by their expert cardiologist that they would not live out the year.
I am happy to say that all five of those went beyond twenty years, and all patients who were compliant
were able to arrest their disease and we often would see a marvelous reversal of it.

He says: they were too sick for these procedures so I understand that the doctors tried to perform angioplasty but weren't successful.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Well, it still does not seem right unless it is medical slang, Newguest; it seems to me that the phrase is abbreviated in an unusual way. I presume that this is meant:

They had failed [to undergo] their first or second bypass; they had failed [to undergo] their first or second angioplasty. They were too sick for these procedures or they had refused them

Newguest · Answer

So, actually I think it means what I said, i.e. the doctors tried to do these things to them but weren't successful. The patients were in such a bad condition that these things didn't work.

Thanks for help.

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