Lewis Thomas has noted that doctors "are as frightened and bewilderedby the act of death as everyone else"1. "Death is shocking,dismaying, even terrifying," Thomas has written. "A dying patientis a kind of freak . . . an offense against nature itself"1.It is thus not surprising that many physicians have difficultytalking candidly with dying patients and caring for them, areaction that often results in undermedication for pain andexpensive and ineffective overtreatment.
American patients know this, and although death is a culture-wideenemy, many Americans fear the process of dying in an impersonal. . . [Full Text of this Article]
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