“I think doctors should get comfortable with being realistic. If it is the case, the doctor should bring up the idea that this disease process might be fatal. Right now, we say, ‘I can’t take away a person’s hope,’ as if doctors were bestowing life. You have to support those hopes that are realistic, not this fantasy land.”
-Dr. Robert Martensen
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“Most Americans die in hospitals or nursing homes, and neither is configured to take care of dying patients. There’s little palliative care available, and often the payment structure of health insurance doesn’t support it. [...]“
-Dr. Robert Martensen, NY Times Interview
“Half the money that we spend in this country on Medicare is spent on patients in the last 6 months of their lives. If we were providing some sort of wonderful existence, then one could make the case. But these last six months are not, they’re often agonizing and very unsatisfying for all concerned.”
-Dr. Robert Martensen, M.D., regarding palliative care.