There is an upside but several downsides for doctors with this.
Doctors get a bum wrap. Damned if they do. Damned if they don’t.
I’m old. As I watch family members die, every Doc has been very compassionate and done his best to follow the families wishes.
If the patient and family want life and treatment no matter what, the doc will do that.
If the patient and family are given all the information and decide for comfort care that’s what the doc will do.
I will never forget the Doc that explained my father-in-law’s extensive cancer. He was able to communicate really bad news so gently!!!
Doctors are people. They have families. They take their patients home with them in their thoughts and prayers. They are deeply touched by human suffering. Not once in awhile, but daily.
Nicely done. I agree with you.
You are so right.
I’m not pinging doctors as much as pointing out that their job has hazards, one of which is assuming the worse.
Somewhat like police officers have a habit of eating their gun when things go south for them. It used to be that it was common when doctors got a terminal diagnosis to give themselves a lethal shot of morphine and call it a day.
I personally prefer the Ambrose Bierce solution, of just taking an extended holiday in rural Mexico, making friends with the locals so that when you go, there is not a lot of fuss. Not really different from a doctor who just decides to let nature take its course, just a step further.
I know some cardiologists who have do not resuscitate necklaces, though it is rare that they end up in such a situation, instead getting something long, slow and chronic that they see coming from a mile away.
Will never forget knowing a smug, popular small-town lawyer. Every Christmas his doorstep was overflowing with Omaha steaks, crates of wine and booze, all the expensive fancy gifts from grateful clients. I understand that is common among lawyers who get their clients what they want--and probably don't deserve.
He later lost a fortune on Lehman and Wachovia.
And I also knew a middle-aged ER nurse who got a simple "thank you" letter from a grateful patient. She started to cry, and everyone crowded around as she opened the little card thanking her for saving a life. The card was passed around in awe. Imagine! A thank-you note!
I cried, too, only a few tears of pure fury at the vulgar ingratitude of human beings, who lavish booze on cheesy lawyers but stiff the woman in the ER who saved a life, who was so moved at a scrap of paper that said "thank you"--
So dump on doctors, folks. They're retiring like crazy and you may not be able to find one when you need one.