Terry Gross recently shared an incredibly interesting interview with doctor and bioethicist Robert Martensen who is now an expert on end of life care (after treating about 75,000 patients in the ER and ICU).
Martensen was caring for his own mother at the time of the interview which made for more emotion and more insights. A few outtakes:
- Although Martensen’s mother had indicated that she did not want her life to be extended with surgeries, her doctor called Martensen at one point and said she was in immediate need of a pacemaker. Martensen, who was on the ski slopes at the time of the call, suggested that the doctor try giving his mother a few glasses of water and then rechecking her heart’s pace. It returned to normal. Put yourself in Martensen’s shoes. How many of us without medical degrees would have said anything but, “Um, ok.”
- Many of the medical tools we currently use during end of life care were not created for that purpose. For example, a ventilator is a great way to help someone bridge from sickness to health. Does the same tool (which is extremely uncomfortable and requires additional drugs) make sense to extend one’s life for a few days or weeks? Should we sustain life at all cost?
- Martensen says that whenever he has had to tell a patient about a life-threatening condition, he sits down with them and any loved ones and spends about ninety minutes explaining the illness, the treatment options and the patient’s choices when it comes to how much intervention they want at different stages. Medicaid pays Martensen about eighteen bucks for those ninety minutes. They pay a whole lot more if he just fires up the O.R.
I highly recommend that you listen to this interesting interview.
