Medical Personnel
Should Actively Promote the Concept of Terminal DNR
Tzu Chi Med J 2006;
18: 155-7
Rong-Chi Chen1,2,3
Department of
Neurology1, En Chu Kong Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Buddhist LotusHospice Care
Foundation2; Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation3
Address reprint
requests and correspondence to: Dr. Rong-Chi Chen, Department of Neurology, En
Chu Kong Hospital, 399, Fuhsing Road, Sanhsia, Taipei, Taiwan
Up until recent
times, most people died at home, peacefully and in the company of family. Due
to the advancement of medical science, however, many people now expire at a
hospital. Since the invention of cardiopul-monary resuscitation (CPR) in the
1960s and the subsequent relentless advance of medical technology, our life
span may have increased, however, it appears reasonable to suggest that the
quality of life at its end may not have improved. Instead, healthcare
providers, in particular physicians, now fight for lives against all the odds,
promoting the false belief in the omnipotence of medical care and the triumph
of man over nature. As a result of this "heroic fight" by physicians,
more and more people now die a painful death in the hospital. Physicians often
cannot accept the defeat of losing a patient, while relatives are unwilling to
let their family member go or believe they are disloyal or unloving if they do
not let the physician attempt a last CPR.
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