If You Are Nearing Death and Want to Live Longer, Don’t Go to the Emergency Room

December 14, 2015

(Quartz) – When you are very sick or hurt, you know to go to the emergency room. Chances are good that our complex, aggressive medical interventions will make you better. But those odds change dramatically once you have an end-stage chronic medical condition or terminal illness. In that case, you are gambling, and the odds are heavily against you. Data shows that refusing aggressive care at the end of life actually lengthens a person’s life by one month. In other words, if you are nearing death and want to live longer, don’t go to the ER. Instead, choose hospice.