NEW YORK– Family physicians are more comfortable with letting patients choose to die, and helping them do so comfortably, according to Dr. Richard Young, a speaker at this year’s annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group.
“We’re more comfortable with death,” he said, comparing physicians accustomed to focusing on one part of the body rather than the whole. That can lead to unnecessary pain and agony for the patient and family, who would be better served being made comfortable, rather than having to endure the heroics of a specialist who “can’t let go,” noted Dr. Young, director of research at the John S. Peters Health System in Fort Worth, Tex.
This video interview is the third in a four-part series on the role family medicine plays in delivering humane, cost-effective health care.
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