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Letters

End of life, continued

Tom Koch
CMAJ June 15, 2010 182 (9) 941-941-c; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.110-2056
Tom Koch
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My brief Salon piece, “End of life, year after year after year,” 1 obviously touched a nerve with Dr. Wohlgemut. 2 However, his reply insists on a host of views that I do not hold. I do not suggest that Fred’s doctors should have been smarter, or that because physicians are indeed often “such poor predictors of mortality that we should abandon the task.” Nor do I doubt, or suggest to the contrary, that pressing on with aggressive therapies is sometimes inadvisable. However, Dr. Wohlgemut and I agree on an essential fact: Physician prognoses are imperfect indicators of longevity and should be understood as such. The tentative nature of prognoses results from the limits of our knowledge, the limits of our diagnostics and the natural variation (physically and socially) among patients. They surprise continually.

Footnotes

  • For the full letter, go to: www.cmaj.ca/cgi/eletters/182/4/412#311204

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    Koch T. End of life, year after year after year. CMAJ 2009;181:868.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. 2.↵
    Wohlgemut J. Going gentle. CMAJ 2010;182:412.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
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Canadian Medical Association Journal: 182 (9)
CMAJ
Vol. 182, Issue 9
15 Jun 2010
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End of life, continued
Tom Koch
CMAJ Jun 2010, 182 (9) 941-941-c; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.110-2056

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End of life, continued
Tom Koch
CMAJ Jun 2010, 182 (9) 941-941-c; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.110-2056
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