[ld_series_img field="ep_hero"]

When Living Longer Conflicts With Dying Well

Dying is inevitable. But medical advancements have made it possible to cheat death in many instances that would have been quickly fatal not so long ago. So it’s become easier to avoid thinking about death and default toward saying “yes” to whatever medical intervention will extend our lives. But when does living longer conflict with dying well? In this podcast episode we’re assessing the common assumption that we can extend life at all costs and still have a “good death” when the time comes. A hospital physician explains the complicated financial and emotional incentives that lead doctors and patients do too many tests, prescriptions and procedures that ultimately do more harm than good. An ICU doctor describes the risks of relying on a “living will” to guarantee a “good death” and what to do instead. If you’ve spent a life saying “yes,” by default, to everything medicine has to offer, it’s traumatic – and not at all straightforward – to know when to start saying “no.” We also hear how a man with terminal cancer navigated end-of-life decisions and what it took for his caregivers to deliver on his wishes for a good death in hospice.
[ld_series_img field="series_logo" class="series-logo" alt="Series logo"]

More Episodes

ifAn4Y-h42I3wIOzam-wlTtdL1C9-th0_KfRZ2qrB7M_nybyun
RETt6zc0fbCfH0xj13EWl78IZE9TyglDW0YnimZ6cdo_wj9or6
pioaa9HqUXGpmHvwYlmqLaeK_yPUWwOp-gfXpaF-BBA_iep0k9
rQ_R_xDrdLr_XZH58Kd_O9MX2dkrlK8IKOpsOx7TbR0_cyx620