Tuesday, October 10, 2006
DNR orders in the NY Times
Today's NY Times has an excellent article about disputes over DNR orders, focusing particularly on who decides whether or not to administer CPR when physicians and families disagree.
It ends with this quote (by Dr. Joseph Fins) which I thought was right on:
"D.N.R. is a game plan for the last 15 minutes of your life," he said. "By planning for those last 15 minutes, we're distorting priorities. Instead of talking about futility, we should be discussing what has utility, like pain management, comfort, closure. Recasting the discussion has led to turning irresolvable dilemmas into problems that can be addressed."
Thanks to Steve Rommelfanger MD for alerting me to this article.