In Hubert Humphrey’s final speech, he said “…the moral test of government is how the government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twighlight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” Recent articles in the NYTimes and the British Medical Journal, prompted by the release of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, encourage a “shifting paradigm” for palliative care. The study confirmed that end-of-life care not only makes patients more happy, more mobile and in less pain – but also extends life. The study could have impact on the proposed striking of end-of-life provisions in the US healthcare bill passed last year.
As additional reading, I highly recommend Atul Gwande’s moving account in the New Yorker (“Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?”).