Edited by author 08-30-2002 06:50 PM
I thank Governor Lamm for raising some very important issues. As a physician and now a managed care executive, I believe society will have to start asking some of the tough questions, such as when is it too much care for a end-stage patient and can we provide everything that patients and physicians demand? Currently, the incentives are basically aligned for an oncologist to prescribe another round of chemo and offer hope (even if there is really is little to no hope) rather than lay it all out to a patient and family and recommend hospice. I sit on a hospice board and our average length of stay in hospice supports my concern. So it is not the doctor's fault but society will have to start having these conversations. Articles like this one can help.