by Katie Butler
This is an honest, sobering look at what awaits so many
elderly people and their caregivers, who are often family members. It is the story of a Medical-Industrial
Complex gone wild: doing things to
people for economic gain. Expensive
procedures that have serious unintended consequences are, unfortunately, the
rule. For a variety of reasons, many
physicians perform lucrative tests and interventions that do little to improve
patients’ well-being. Death is seen as
the ultimate enemy, yet we all will die.
How one dies is important, yet this is not considered often enough. DJE (Here are my notes from KOHD - The Book.)
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| Katie Butler with Her Parents |
From the NY Times Review by Abraham Verghese: “Knocking on
Heaven’s Door” is a thoroughly researched and compelling mix of personal
narrative and hard-nosed reporting that captures just how flawed care at the
end of life has become. My hope is that this book might goad the public into
pressuring their elected representatives to further transform health care from
its present crisis-driven, reimbursement-driven model to one that truly cares
for the patient and the family. And since life is, after all, a fatal illness
and none of us are spared, there is an urgent need for us in America to reclaim
death from medicine and, whenever possible, enable the ritual of dying at home
with family present (and aided by all medicine can offer) so that we are
allowed to take our leave from earth with dignity.
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