Angry Doctor: There is no such thing as dying with dignity

This physician from Singapore rants on:

‘Dignity’ is in itself a social construct. We, as a society and as individuals, choose what to call ‘dignified’ and what to call ‘undignified’. The fact is there is nothing inherently undignified in receiving life-support measures and treatment. People receive it all the time – from preterm babies, young people who suffered trauma, old people with serious infections, to people who are dying.

Dozens of SARS patients received extraordinary life-sustaining measures during the outbreak. Nobody called them ‘undignified’. They were called ‘heroes’, as were the people who put them on these measures and treatment.

So what exactly is so different about dying from SARS as opposed to dying from cancer or heart failure that makes it acceptable for one group of patients to receive such treatment till the time their bodies fail despite all efforts, and ‘undignified’ for another group?

angry doc suspects that this ‘dying with dignity’ talk comes from a fundamental fear of our own mortality and a desire to have some sense of control over the manner and timing of our death.

Related posts:

1. Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act
2. Your doctor and religious directives
3. Do you want your doctor to talk about death?
4. Dying in the waiting room
5. Dying from cervical cancer, and the questions surrounding Jade Goody
6. Having everything done
7. Call and extreme hours kills a doctor

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Tagged as: cancer, heart, patient