http://networkedblogs.com/Vacwd
When I hear that someone was screaming in pain, my first thought is “malpractice.” My father died of bone cancer, a very painful type of cancer, and he had pain medications prescribed by his oncologist, but was still in a lot of pain and could barely stand to move. Then he agreed to forego aggressive treatment and go into hospice. The hospice nurse adjusted his medications, and his pain virtually disappeared – he got up, went to see his neighbor and played putt-putt golf in the living room.
He lived about three more months, and stayed under the care of that nurse until the end. Sadly, she told me that she was being forced to spend increasing amounts of time documenting care due to managed care, rather than providing care to her patients, and as she tried to do both, her work was eating into her time with her family, so she decided to quit. That was 15 years ago.
So when I hear stories of painful deaths, I think about my dad’s well-meaning but ignorant oncologist, the wonderful hospice nurse, and the ensuing progress in palliative care. When a nationally respected palliative care physician like Dr. Ira Byock says that assisted suicide is not progressive, people should listen. But personal stories carry so much more weight.