A major reason why some patients clamor for unreasonable treatments at the
end-of-life is the belief by some that "death is optional". Then there is hope
that if one is alive a little longer, a new miracle drug will come along.
The root cause of the problem of "over-treatment" in the USA, is patients and
family can demand to be treated; while not paying for the treatment - a
phenomenon that does not occur in any other part of the world. Also having the
patient in the hospital and being treated or operated, means the family does
not have to take care of the patient at home. This is because often there is
no one to take care of the patient in these day of two-family earners or the
patient is living alone with poor social support at home and in their
neighborhood. These are some of the many reasons the healthcare costs in the
USA is twice that in other countries.
One does not have to be a doctor (or a rocket scientist) to tell that a
cancer patient is not doing well (has progressive disease) and death is
near. It is amazing and unfortunate, at the large number of factors, that
come into play not to face the facts in these difficult times.
To answer your questions, I will post in a five-part series an article I wrote
on this topic.
Regards, GL
------------- Victor Rangel-Ribeiro
One response by family members is, "We are not ready to let go; at least, if we
continue the chemo, we will be together for some more time." Doctors are happy
to oblige. But what if the chemo produces dreadful side effects? One also has
to consider the qualify of life in the additional time that has been bought. If
one is spending one's days and nights in agony, why should one seek to prolong
life, anyway?
--------------- Frederick Noronha
Is it possible to have "too much chemotherapy"? I know modern medicine makes it
sound as if it has a cure for every ailment (and there's huge money involved),
but in a life-threatening situation, where doctors are the only specialists,
how does one take a call over this?
