Sunday, March 20, 2011

Discussing Terminal Treatment

The decision not to pursue more studies and more treatment can be very, very difficult. Surgeon/journalist Atul Gawande in an essay entitled “Letting Go,” writes about how difficult it can be for physicians and patients to halt cancer treatment as the end of life draws near. The dilemma “arises from a still unresolved argument about what the function of medicine really is — what, in other words, we should and should not be paying for doctors to do.” In Gawande’s view, the profession should equip and supply doctors and nurses “who are willing to have the hard discussions and say what they have seen …”

New Yorker - Letting Go
"What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?"

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