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Informed Consent, Cancer, And Truth In Prognosis, George J. Annas
Informed Consent, Cancer, And Truth In Prognosis, George J. Annas
Faculty Scholarship
Barbara Tuchman records that during the Black Death epidemic in the early 14th century, “doctors were admired, lawyers universally hated and mistrusted”. The great plagues and wars of the Middle Ages produced a “cult of death,” including a vast popular literature that had death as its theme. As the 20th century closes, our emphasis is on the denial of death, and the honest discussion of death remains rare both in popular literature and in conversations between physicians and patients. This is one reason why Shana Alexander shocked a national conference of bioethicists last year by saying, “I trust my lawyer …
Death By Prescription, George J. Annas
Death By Prescription, George J. Annas
Faculty Scholarship
Society and physicians in the United States remain unable to accept death and thus unable to deal with the physical, psychological, and spiritual approach of death. The hour of death itself “is commonly tranquil,” but “the serenity is usually bought at a fearful price -- and the price is the process by which we reach that point” -- a process that has been described as “a purgatory that may last for weeks.” Suicide has been seen as a rational way to avoid that purgatory, especially as a response to end-stage cancer and AIDS, and proposals to “legalize” physician-assisted suicide in …