Book contents
- Intimations of Mortality
- Intimations of Mortality
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Conundrum
- 2 The US Health Care ‘System’
- 3 Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Real World
- 4 The Denial of Death and Its Sequelae
- 5 Disorders of Consciousness and the Meaning of Life
- 6 More Barriers to Good Communication
- 7 Palliative and Hospice Care
- 8 Rational Apathy and the Role of Uncertainty
- 9 The Crucible
- 10 Resolving Conflicts at the End of Life
- 11 At the End of the Day
- 12 Coda
- Index
3 - Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Real World
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2022
- Intimations of Mortality
- Intimations of Mortality
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Conundrum
- 2 The US Health Care ‘System’
- 3 Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Real World
- 4 The Denial of Death and Its Sequelae
- 5 Disorders of Consciousness and the Meaning of Life
- 6 More Barriers to Good Communication
- 7 Palliative and Hospice Care
- 8 Rational Apathy and the Role of Uncertainty
- 9 The Crucible
- 10 Resolving Conflicts at the End of Life
- 11 At the End of the Day
- 12 Coda
- Index
Summary
The twentieth century ushered in a dazzling array of modern medical technologies including many effective new treatments for disease and novel preventative therapies that have helped extend the average lifespan dramatically. From penicillin and polio vaccines to statins to immunotherapies and robotic surgery, we enjoy the benefits of science and medicine. While life expectancy at birth in the United States in 1900 was just over 47 years,1 we now live, on average for 78.7 years.
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- Intimations of MortalityMedical Decision-Making at the End of Life, pp. 37 - 73Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022