When prolonging death seems worse than death

October 10, 2012

Many of us think of death as the worst possible outcome for a terminally ill patient, but Judith Schwarz disagrees. Schwarz, a patient supporter at the nonprofit Compassion & Choices, says prolonging death can be a far worse fate. For many patients, good palliative or hospice care can alleviate suffering, yet “a small but significant proportion of dying patients suffer intolerably,” Schwarz writes. (NPR)