१ डिसेंबर, २०२५

"I had spent 12 hours with this man. What could I have done differently? What words could I have used?"

"My patient’s opinions were mystifying, as if the product of an unsound mind. Should we have disregarded them and performed a procedure against his wishes?... My patient had been clear. He was consistent. He had the right to make his own decisions. What I considered to be an unfounded and ultimately disastrous objection to a pacemaker was not, in and of itself, proof of incapacity.... I did not know what it was like to live with his autoimmune disease.... Because I was unwilling to accept my patient’s desires at the end of his life, his final 12 hours on this earth were fraught and contentious. I could not have changed his mind, but perhaps I could have changed that."

Writes Daniela J. Lamas, in "My Patient Was Making a Fatal Decision. What Could I Do?" (NYT).

२७ टिप्पण्या:

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Maybe spending 12 hours with someone who didn't want you around was not the best use of your time. But hey. As we say in government work, "The pay's the same, whether or not you're getting anything done".

gilbar म्हणाले...

Serious Question..
Would (COULD?) this article have been written in Canada?
Medical Assistance In Dying.. isn't THAT what they call it there?

rehajm म्हणाले...

I can't see what the ailments were but the obsession with doctors 'following protocol' has complications. Doctors are trained to diagnose and provide treatment, even when the treatment is of limited value. In the case of cardiac problems, think how many stents, how many statins- both of marginal value, if any- cardiologists dish out. Patients, especially in the matter of serious ailments, rightly think in terms of cost/benefit risk/reward. For some patients in some situations, like LBBB pacemakers are statistically of no lifesaving benefit, but it's what they have so they sell them, sometimes hard. Meanwhile there's risk of infection, rejection, pulling leads, etc etc and the medical failure of having fourth doctor down the line cheerfully showing up in your hospital room to tell you it's time to turn off your device and die...

Aggie म्हणाले...

"... But this situation felt especially heightened. If I could not change my patient’s mind, then he would die......
When I entered his room for the first time, he told me to leave, but part of me was sure my team would change his mind....."


Isn't he the helpful one? They couldn't prove him insane to force his treatment, so they made him miserable instead. To death.

These are the people that said 'take the jab or lose your job'. Convinced they're right, and convinced they have the right.

Archived here: https://archive.ph/uckWq

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Once you know he's choosing to follow the natural process of his disease, how can you keep pestering him. This is his dying! He deserves something other than continued argument for 12 hours. The doctor was "unwilling to accept" his decision, but she was obligated to accept. He was "unwilling to accept" her idea, but it was his body. My body, my choice.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

This was a man in his 30s.

Eric the Fruit Bat म्हणाले...

Hey, hey, hey, let's not lose sight of what's really important here, which is Dr. Lamas, a pulmonary and critical care physician, got published in the NEW YORK TIMES!!!!

Jaq म्हणाले...

Maybe he read that disturbing book "The Instability of Truth" and did not want any part of it. "Terminal Man" and all. I don't know. But it is hard to accept, because I have a pacemaker, but I don't have an "autoimmune disease," so I have no idea what that man was suffering whose own body was trying to kill him.

Enigma म्हणाले...

Just a day ago, the COVID-19 anti-establishment convert Dr. John Campbell, released a video (link below) on "excess deaths" in the UK over the last several years.

He addresses the correlation between a specific lethal medication and the spikes in "unexplained deaths." As such, this NYT story comes across a crocodile tears from the deeply psychopathic medical industry.

"We care, we care. We mourn pointless deaths. We mourn."

Nope. Nope. Nope. Distracting from your own massive COVID errors NYT? Medical industry: Covering your tracks and hoping we forget?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15A-ZypMwGY

Aggie म्हणाले...

My wife just finished reading 'Let Them' a while ago, and I've heard her mentioning the book to others. Maybe this doctor could use a copy.

Eva Marie म्हणाले...

Could he have checked himself out of the hospital? Double extra sad because it looks like he had no family or friends.

Narr म्हणाले...

"What could I do?"

Step aside, and tend to someone who wants your help?

Skeptical Voter म्हणाले...

A person needs some agency in how he or she (or "xi") goes about dying. A long time friend of mine contracted pancreatic cancer. He received the diagnosis along with the doctor's prognosis "three months to live". The doctor was correct. My friend and his wife chose not to tell their adult children of the fact of imminent death. His life, his choice. Although I will say that his son--also a friend of mine--was very bitter that his father had not told him.

Achilles म्हणाले...

We need to start executing doctors receiving kickbacks from drug companies and medical equipment companies as well as any executives in those companies authorizing those payments to bribe doctors.

Laurel म्हणाले...

“Doctors like myself see people make medical choices that feel impossible to understand, like deciding not to vaccinate their children.”

Just had to take a dig at “anti-vaxxers”, didn’t she? After COVID, the sheer chutzpah to have such conceit!

No, I no longer “trust” doctors. I knew - yes, damn it - I KNEW early on that Covid was not the threat the panicans were screaming about. How? Because, again, damn it, I paid attention.

Go look up the (reasonably complete) Wiki entry
“COVID-19 pandemic on Diamond Princess”

The CFR was in the range of a bad flu year, and the only deaths were of passengers with an average age >70.
NOT children
NOT teenagers
NOT adults of working age

This cruise began January, 2020 and ended early March.
**Close, confined quarters for extended period
**Elderly passengers

If I, a reasonably intelligent woman of no specific authority or degree could analyze the situation, TPTB have no, none, zero excuse.

After ALL of that, to besmirch “anti-vaxxers” as know-nothings is to demonstrate that education is frequently replaced by indoctrination. Smart ≠ wise.


Heartless Aztec म्हणाले...

Dying on your own terms without the State as a coercive nanny is a death with dignity.

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

That doctor could have been talking about Steve Jobs?!

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

"My body, my choice."

Wait a minute. That's not the same thing. Am not here to argue. I just want to dissent on the record.

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...


BTW We are going to face unavoidably daunting questions very soon.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Lem Vibe Bandit- thanks for bringing that up. I was thinking it was not the same. His choice did not include killing another human. That said...

The doctor sounds like a man who is not used to having someone tell him 'no'. He has a "doesn't he know who I am?" sort of vibe to him. I guess many of them (most?) do.

n.n म्हणाले...

Vaxxxers have a poor understanding of risk management, which may have been an early warning sign to her client.

Hey Skipper म्हणाले...

Laurel: Go look up the (reasonably complete) Wiki entry
“COVID-19 pandemic on Diamond Princess”


See also the USS Roosevelt.

It was very obvious from the outset that the Chyna Virus wasn't going to be panic worthy.

Leland म्हणाले...

This cruise began January, 2020 and ended early March.
**Close, confined quarters for extended period
**Elderly passengers


I remember arguing this point with a former college classmate (sadly, at the time, an FBI agent), who claimed it probably wasn’t as bad on the cruise because people were separated. In short, he never experienced a cruise in his life and had no idea how disease spread on ships to the point of crew paranoia. Yet, he justified shutting down the economy based on his ignorance.

BarrySanders20 म्हणाले...

What could she have done differently? Maybe STFU and understand she's not always in control. That not everybody wants to hear her views much less have those views forced upon them, and when she opens her oversized yapper to womansplain, it has the exact opposite effect she is intending.

WK म्हणाले...

Learning much more about healthcare. My parents(father 92 and mother 90). Mom has dementia and is not very mobile. Walker around the house and wheelchair out of house. They have health care directives and DNR paperwork in place. Last year mom had an event where she passed out and fell. Ended up in hospital and had a pacemaker implanted. Dad is main care giver. We can only see physical deterioration and mental decline over the upcoming years for mom. Yet they were encouraged to put a life prolonging device as her physical and mental capabilities are declining. I see the pressure it puts on my father as similar to what is saw with my grandparents. Grandmother declined and had health issues. Grandfather supported her and exhausted himself. He passed and she lived in a nursing home for 14 more years wheelchair and bedridden. Choices are very difficult. But the healthcare teams are always pushing for more life extending pharmaceuticals and devices with little consideration to quality of life.

cacimbo म्हणाले...

This confession (because that's what this really is) is terrifying. Horrible to think how many others might be subjected to this type of abuse. Fraught and contentious do not adequately describe what was done to that man. They didn't just pester him to agree to a treatment he had rejected, they refused him food when he was hungry, they did not give him pain relief until a minute before death - all so he would be ready for surgery if they managed to torment him into changing his mind. I feel tortured would be a more accurate description of what they did to that poor man during his final hours.

Jamie म्हणाले...

This is so contentious. On the one hand, I vividly remember when Terri Schiavo's ex-husband, who had "moved on," as they say, won his case to have her taken off food and water (the only life support she required, though *she was in a vegetative state and therefore not responsive and with no hope of recovery), despite the fact that her parents were willing to take over her care, including all costs. She was starved to death by court order because she couldn't communicate her own wishes, even though her family was standing ready to care for her.

On the other hand, I feel for those who are suffering a terminal illness and so have the ability to communicate their wishes - and they may wish to end their pain, tedium, anticipation of death, even though their loved ones want them to hang on.

I don't know. I think God wants me to live the span of my life that He gives me - but I also think God has granted us miracles in the form of astounding medical advances.

* Her family claimed that she was responsive. The court was unconvinced. I couldn't possibly know. What I did know, and still believe, was that she could not tell anyone what she wanted at that time, she showed no signs of suffering pain, and her family was happy to take responsibility for her. I think her death was a travesty.

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