11 October 2006
End of Life Care for the Poor
Gregory Gramelspacher, M.D., Center for Bioethics, Indiana University
Becca Dillingham, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine and Center for Global Health, UVA
For patients with means and access, care at the end of life often involves withdrawal of aggressive interventions in favor of more modest measures controlling symptoms and assuring comfort. But what about care for dying persons who are impoverished and have never enjoyed access even to basic health services? What should end-of-life care look like for the poor in U.S. inner cities or third-world countries?
Co-presented with the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life
and the Center for Global Health