The topic of euthanasia, which as an issue stays barely below our radar screens, given the host of contentious social issues taking up our political and cultural bandwidth, nevertheless may ultimately prove to be an enormous dilemma, with profound impact on both our lives as a society and as individuals. While the issue has only…
Category: Medicine
General essays on the topic of medicine and the medical profession
Thoughts on End of Life
One of the most challenging areas where medicine, ethics, morality, and social policy collide is that of end-of life decisions. A reader posed a question regarding sustaining life vs. terminating care in those who are not terminal per se, but no longer have intact cognitive function, e.g. severe dementia and persistent vegetative state: I was…
Dancing With Death
The war rages on. It is a battle with ancient roots, deeply embedded in religion, culture, and the tensions between rich and poor. It is a war of contrasts: high technology and primitive cultural weapons; knowledge versus ignorance; speed and urgency against the methodical slowness of an enemy who knows time is on his side….
The Call
Damn!, I hate these calls… Lying on my desk, clipped to a yellow manila binder, is a single sheet of paper. Its pleasant color format and sampled photomicrograph belie the gravity of its content: Adenocarcinoma, Gleason grade 9, involving 60% of the specimen. How do you deliver a death sentence? Your first impression of Charlie…