Letting Go
Atul Gawande explores the difference between standard medical care and hospice for terminal patients.
Sara Monopoli, thirty-four, had never smoked. The diagnosis was bewildering: lung cancer, advanced, inoperable. But there were chemotherapy options. Words like "respond" and "long-term" provide reassuring gloss on dire reality. There is no cure at this stage. Even with chemotherapy, median survival is about a year.