Chris Feudtner, MD, PhD, MPH, David Munson, MD, and Wynne Morrison, MD
The way that we choose how to frame the conversation with parents about halting or continuing such therapy for their children who will not recover has special importance in medicine and in society.
This article asks whether the benefits of neuroelectronic devices that restore function outweigh their risks to the individual and society and whether we should move beyond therapy to enhance our capabilities by the use of such devices?
Physicians have an obligation to consider a patient’s quality of life when making treatment decisions and should consider giving patients the options of withholding or withdrawing aggressive treatment if that treatment will not restore the kind of life the patient finds meaningful.
A plastic surgeon criticizes reality television programs that focus on plastic surgery for their less-than-realistic depictions of cosmetic procedures and the profession as a whole.