Doctors die peacefully. Shouldn't We?

Doctors die peacefully. Shouldn't We?

Death is a sensitive topic.

We all know that we'll eventually die. However, we're often to scared to talk about it. Especially about one's own death or about the prospective death of our near and dear ones.

I felt that this post ought to appear both in my finance blog and in my "Multiple Shades of Grey" blog.

Came across the following article:

• Doctors die a peaceful death - They don't commit the mistake of "Over-treatment, Over-Medication"

Excellently written. Do read it - Especially if you are over 60 or if you have near and dear ones who are over 60.

There are too many reasons as to why doctors die a peaceful death, but patients don't. It is not always because of their propensity to make some extra buck. It is also due to other reasons like

• Fear of litigation
• Misplaced concern for the patient
• Intention to preserve "success percentages"
• Undue pressure from the family members of the patient, etc.

However, if I'm a decision-maker either about my own health-care when the time comes or for any of my own near and dear ones, I'll try to consciously think about the above article and think a hundred times before going in for artificial life-support systems in a typical ICU.

Reasons are many, including:

• Improving the quality of life of the patient
• Reducing the actual suffering of the patient
• Enabling the patient to be with his / her family and friends in the last few hours / days, instead of being semi-conscious inside an ICU.
• Reducing the eventual hospital bill (especially by avoiding some futile life-support interventions)

The last point, while appearing rather rude, crude and heartless, is very live, very real, very practical, and, probably the most crucial one for the surviving members of the family, especially in case of lower middle-class / poor / below-poverty-line families. Especially in an otherwise poor country like India.

Think about it.

Regards,

N

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