Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Medicine has leapt forward in recent times, with several new drugs and procedures which have reduced the life-threatening to minor inconveniences. But the goals of medicine often run counter to the needs of the patient. The author explores all sides.
Medicine and medical procedures have come a long way from the hey day of the surgeon Robert Liston, the only doctor in history to have a 300% mortality in a surgical procedure. New medical procedures, and fancy drugs have helped extend human life expectancy in developed countries to nearly double of what it was a scant couple of centuries ago.
But the flip side is that the medical community often prescribes invasive procedures and strong medicines to their patients to merely stem the onset of a fatal disease, just so the patient may survive a little longer. The goal of the doctor is solely treatment, but often treatment is not what the patient needs, but care.
The author explores several sides of the argument, but makes a strong case for palliative care in discussion with the patients, and aligning their care with their goals rather than the goals of the medical fraternity.