Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

It's odd that no decision in your life is more important than dying yet that is an inevitability most of us intentionally ignore, especially the price. Nationally, End-of-Life care costs hover around 10% of total U.S. healthcare spending, which seems reasonable, but those are the physical costs, the mental costs are immeasurable, especially when the patient is still considered young. Something evolutionary causes most older people to prepare for their death, some even welcome it. “Hospice” is the term used to describe those people who have accepted their fate, are at peace with the world & prepared to survive the last days of their lives in morphine's sweet embrace. The care they seek is far different than the frantic steps taken to extend the life, often only marginally, of The Young.

Rational decisions about End-of-Life care are difficult to tease out, especially when multiple family members are involved, but doctors are specially trained to negotiate those angst-filled meetings, usually successfully, and the End-of-Life industry continues to operate smoothly. There are those that fight to the last breath regardless of their quality-of-life, or lack thereof, especially when the cause of their demise is something as insidious as cancer, an invisible malady whose gradual onset seems unreal and unfair. The drugs that fight cancer are inordinately expensive, and the time & place to administer them is restricted, and will remain so because no Market System can spontaneously arise to address the product of “cancer.” There are no cheaper options when the choice is death.