Patients complete advance directives without a physician's approval, though they may seek a physician's advice in doing so. Only a physician can issue a DNR order or a POLST, in consultation with the patient or surrogate. So long as the preferences and directives of patients are an integral part of the process, POLSTs appear to be a useful addition to late-stage medical care decision making
This week's post includes two vignettes from the book "Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life" by Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, MPH. The book provides an insider’s view of intensive care in America and its impact on how we die. Part 2 will appear next week.
Nearly everyone hopes for a peaceful death; yet such an end can be elusive. Many of us face both philosophical and practical questions as we do what we can to make our own deaths peaceful.
Some of us may have religious questions. Judaism, like many other religions, is all over the map in its thinking about ways to achieve a peaceful death.
