I Lied When I Said We Did Everything We Could
I want to go out as a result of a series of violent mistakes trying to save my life.  Why would anyone want anything else?  Peaceful death is basically suicide.<p>Why do doctors continually perpetuate this notion that slipping softly into death (palliative care, hospice) is preferable to continually trying to avoid it by way of riskier and riskier attempts at treating the root cause?<p>At the very least, we could be honest about it and say what the real reason is: we don't have the resources to try everything for everyone, and normalizing a set of not-quite-everything standards is the best way to keep the average level of care up for everyone.