So this doctor was in Columbus today from "up the road," in Atlanta. Dr. Nicolas Krawiecki, associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at Emory, is also a renowned ethicist on end-of-life issues — when to take someone off life support? How to balance the physician's knowledge of disease and the dying process with the patient's and family's?
Quite an interesting talk he gave, followed by a panel that included a chaplain, a nurse administrator, a surgeon and hospital lawyer.
The most fascinating thing to me was the collaboration aspect of such weighty decisions. Used to be, Krawiecki told me, the physician's word was law. "This is what is going to happen, no questions asked." Not that doctors are left out of consultations now, but more weight is spread among patients and their families and other support systems. (I imagine part of that has to do with malpractice suits.) The pendulum swings.
He included a quote from one Dr. Bernard Lown, professor emeritus of cardiology at Harvard: "Americans are the only people who think that death is optional."
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