FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 342:654-656 March 2, 2000 Number 9 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text Purchase this article Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

For several years, there has been an awareness of the often harmful power of the "technological imperative" in the care of dying patients — that is, the compulsive use of technology to maintain life when palliative care would be more appropriate. There is another imperative that now deserves more attention in assessing the care of dying patients: the research imperative. It stems from the view that medicine has an almost sacred duty to combat all the known causes of death. Underlying this view is the assumption, usually tacit, that death is the principal evil of human life.

At the heart . . . [Full Text of this Article]

The Mixed Record of Reform

Eliminating Death, Disease by Disease

The Clinical Spillover

Ameliorating the Conflict

References

Related Letters:

Death and the Research Imperative
Gardner T. J., Roberts C. S., Wells R. J., Quinn M. M., Portnoi V. A., Robinson B. E., Callahan D.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 2000; 343:223-225, Jul 20, 2000. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Keeley, P W (2008). Improving the evidence base in palliative medicine: a moral imperative. J. Med. Ethics 34: 757-760 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Zimmermann, C., Wennberg, R. (2006). Integrating Palliative Care: A Postmodern Perspective. AM J HOSP PALLIAT CARE 23: 255-258 [Abstract]  
• Yi, P., Barreto, P., Soler, C., Fombuena, M., Espinar, V., Pascual, L., Navarro, R., Gonzalez, R., Bernabeu, J., Suarez, J. (2006). Grief support provided to caregivers of palliative care patients in Spain. Palliat Med 20: 521-531 [Abstract]  
• Binstock, R. H. (2004). Anti-Aging Medicine: The History: Anti-Aging Medicine and Research: A Realm of Conflict and Profound Societal Implications. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 59: B523-B533 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Zimmermann, C., Rodin, G. (2004). The denial of death thesis: sociological critique and implications for palliative care. Palliat Med 18: 121-128 [Abstract]  
• Frileux, S, Lelievre, C, Munoz Sastre, M T, Mullet, E, Sorum, P C (2003). When is physician assisted suicide or euthanasia acceptable?. J. Med. Ethics 29: 330-336 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Levinsky, N. G., Yu, W., Ash, A., Moskowitz, M., Gazelle, G., Saynina, O., Emanuel, E. J. (2001). Influence of Age on Medicare Expenditures and Medical Care in the Last Year of Life. JAMA 286: 1349-1355 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pierucci, R. L., Kirby, R. S., Leuthner, S. R. (2001). End-of-Life Care for Neonates and Infants: The Experience and Effects of a Palliative Care Consultation Service. Pediatrics 108: 653-660 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gardner, T. J., Roberts, C. S., Wells, R. J., Quinn, M. M., Portnoi, V. A., Robinson, B. E., Callahan, D. (2000). Death and the Research Imperative. NEJM 343: 223-225 [Full Text]