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Monday, January 16, 2012

What Doctors Know — And We Can Learn — About Dying

Last month, an essay posted by retired physician Ken Murray called “How Doctors Die” got a huge amount of attention, some negative but mostly positive. Murray tells the story of an orthopedic surgeon who, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, chose not to undergo treatment. The surgeon died some months later at home, never having set foot inside a hospital again.

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2 comments:

lmclain said...

Doctors know, and have said many times, that cancer is STILL a death sentence. Despite all the money spent on research and the hoopla over certain types of cancer, most cancer patients die within 5 years of their diagnosis. The doctor knew that the suffering of surgery and chemo treatments were more beneficial to the hospitals and their billing departments than to the patient. We all die. On our terms or on other people's terms. Pick one.

Anonymous said...

I'll die on my own terms thank you. It certainly won't be in a hospital if I can help it.