Written by Wilfred Ling
Monday, 05 September 2011
Straits Times article entitled “Strong family hand in patients’ last days’ published on 5 September 2011 provides us with various issues faced by persons in their last days.
According to a study “What Doctors Say about Care of the Dying,” it was found that family members tend to play a significant role in the patients’ last days even to the extent of denying the dying the right to settle their own personal affairs. This is done by threatening doctors with complains or lawsuits should doctors disclose the seriousness of the medical conditions to the patients directly. Reasons why family members do this vary. It could be because family members do not wish the patients the burden of knowledge and burden of responsibility of making decisions. Other reason is due to ‘face’ in which adult children insist on treatment even when it ......