Dying in America: Report Sets Off Discussion in Annals of Internal Medicine

December 9, 2014

(The Washington Post) – The report, he said, “outlined comprehensive recommendations for tackling an issue that’s only getting more pressing as 10,000 baby boomers join Medicare every day.” Those recommendations included educating Americans to begin thinking about the end of life early on, along with suggestions for improving access to hospice care, training more doctors in palliative care and compensating health-care professionals for talking to patients about death. On Tuesday, in an effort to prompt discussion, the Annals of Internal Medicine is publishing four commentaries touching on the issues raised in the report, from cancer treatment to unnecessary end-of-life treatments.