Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Article about the role of hospice

Very interesting article on a huge difficulty with the current setup of our healthcare system.  That problem being the ability to realistically and objectively confront dying.  I particularly noted the realities of continuing medical treatment in spite of the fact that there is virtually no medical benefit of these treatments.  I can't help but wonder how these decisions might be different if we had an entirely private pay medical system (i.e. no Medicare, Medicaid, or private health insurance).  

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all

Be warned, this is a very long article, but I thought it was totally worthwhile read.

Mike Weeks