While on the phone with a good friend yesterday, he mentioned a recent visit to one of his many doctors. All of his medical reconds indicate clearly that he's dying of congestive heart failure, yet for some reason, he doesn't quite believe it, so he asked, point blank, to his doctor, "Am I dying of congestive heart failure?". The response was not what I predicted. His doctor replied "well, that's a matter of interpretation", further confusing my friend.
If this is representative of how the medical community is going to deal with ever-increasing numbers of terminally ill people in the decades to follow, then it would seem we're in trouble; both emotionally and financially.
Drs. are not trained to deal with death. Not a single hour of practice is required. From their point of view, life is what needs to be emphasized. But what about my friend and millions like him, with some form of severe illness?
Are they not entitiled to a full discussion of the facts?
I have to wonder how far can we go to improve our medical system without first improving and extending our paradigm of what it means to be a "good doctor".
