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Well, at least it wasn't by text

Lutherf

Lutherf

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Doctor tells patient he doesn't have long to live through hospital robot's video screen

Over the robot's video screen, Wilharm says she and her grandfather learned that Quintana's lungs were failing and he did not have long to live.

"You might not make it home," the doctor said on the screen.

Wilharm says that heartbreaking news hurt even more, delivered through a machine.

"Devastated. I was going to lose my grandfather. We knew that this was coming and that he was very sick. But I don't think somebody should get the news delivered that way. It should have been a human being come in," Wilharm said.
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That really is a rather personal discussion handled in a rather impersonal way.
 
Yeah, that was handled horribly. But I would bet that doctor and the hospital, and every medical professional who hears this story, won't make that mistake again.
 
not going to be the recipient of any 'bedside manner' award
would not want to receive my own news that way
and what i am about to propose may be provocative - no way to avoid it

do we have the number of physicians we need such that they must spend their time informing a dying person that no further medical attention would mitigate their unfortunate impending demise?
is it not better that the physician's limited time be made available to patients who can actually be assisted by his/her efforts?
 
justabubba said:
not going to be the recipient of any 'bedside manner' award
would not want to receive my own news that way
and what i am about to propose may be provocative - no way to avoid it

do we have the number of physicians we need such that they must spend their time informing a dying person that no further medical attention would mitigate their unfortunate impending demise?
is it not better that the physician's limited time be made available to patients who can actually be assisted by his/her efforts?
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Maybe in some places. But even then it wouldn’t necessarily have to be the physician. It could be a hospital counselor. Hell, that might even be better than the physician as a counselor would be more skilled in dealing with grieving people. I’m sure there are numerous better alternatives then delivering the news via machine.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Maybe in some places. But even then it wouldn’t necessarily have to be the physician. It could be a hospital counselor. Hell, that might even be better than the physician as a counselor would be more skilled in dealing with grieving people. I’m sure there are numerous better alternatives then delivering the news via machine.
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yes, your approach would be even better because with the machine the physician is still committing time to a patient who has no further medical hope. all that is saved is the travel time of the doctor
 
justabubba said:
yes, your approach would be even better because with the machine the physician is still committing time to a patient who has no further medical hope. all that is saved is the travel time of the doctor
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Please rethink your statement. I'm sure you don't intend to devalue the humanity of a dying man, but that's what it sounds like.
 
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bearpoker said:
Please rethink your statement. I'm sure you don't to devalue the humanity of a dying man, but that's what it sounds like.
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Unless there are a flood of doctors hitting US shores, or we have somehow developed a way to forego sleep, devaluation of lives is going to happen.
 
bearpoker said:
Please rethink your statement. I'm sure you don't to devalue the humanity of a dying man, but that's what it sounds like.
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i value the humanity of sick persons who need the assistance of a physician
the physician's time given over to a person who cannot benefit from future medical assistance (other than palliative care by one who specializes in that form of medicine) is time which is then rendered unavailable to the sick who could actually benefit from the doctor's time spent with them
it IS a stark issue. a dilemma our nation will have to address as limited medical resources are made available to those in need. presently, a very disproportionate amount of medical expenditures (time and money) is spent on those of advanced age and with modest medical hope
is that really the best way to spend our limited medical resources
this present topic presents that trade off, about how medical resources should be best allocated: to the imminently dying or the living who are sick
being a member of the baby boomer cohort, it is my own medical interest which might be diminished by instead focusing medical attention on those who would most benefit from it. usually younger people
the ethics are anything but simple and straight forward. but an aspect of medical care which much be addressed, especially as we progress toward a single payer system
 
People just don't care. When my grandfather died, the nursing home called and asked to speak to my mother. I said, "She's not available right now - this is her daughter. Can I help?" She said, "Yes, my name is so and so and I am with blah blah Nursing Home, and I just wanted to let her know that her father died."

:shock:

I flipped. I said, "That's how you tell me that my grandfather died?" She apologized, but the horse was out of the stable.

Honestly, I hated that rat bastard son of a bitch, but she needed to know that there are ways to handle this, and ways to not handle it. She chose poorly.
 
justabubba said:
i value the humanity of sick persons who need the assistance of a physician
the physician's time given over to a person who cannot benefit from future medical assistance (other than palliative care by one who specializes in that form of medicine) is time which is then rendered unavailable to the sick who could actually benefit from the doctor's time spent with them
it IS a stark issue. a dilemma our nation will have to address as limited medical resources are made available to those in need. presently, a very disproportionate amount of medical expenditures (time and money) is spent on those of advanced age and with modest medical hope
is that really the best way to spend our limited medical resources
this present topic presents that trade off, about how medical resources should be best allocated: to the imminently dying or the living who are sick
being a member of the baby boomer cohort, it is my own medical interest which might be diminished by instead focusing medical attention on those who would most benefit from it. usually younger people
the ethics are anything but simple and straight forward. but an aspect of medical care which much be addressed, especially as we progress toward a single payer system
Click to expand...

In that case I vote we replace doctors with robots and leave the patients in the care of nurses. That's the best outcome all the way around.
 
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