Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

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Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

In our current medical culture, the old and the ill are put on what she terms the End-of-Life Conveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterized, and even shelved away in care facilities to suffer their final days alone, confused, and often in pain. In her work Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself: the prospect of dying badly. She builds bridges between patients and caregivers, formulates plans to allay patients’ pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well, even beautifully. Extreme Measures charts Zitter’s journey from wanting to be one kind of hero to becoming another – a doctor who prioritizes the patient’s values and preferences in an environment where the default choice is the extreme use of technology.

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