[jyl]

End of life care seems like an insoluble problem to me.

Families are emotional, uninformed, not paying for the futile care. Doctors and hospitals aren't paying for it either, actually they get paid for it. And politicians scream about death panels to get votes. No wonder granny's last month costs $500K.

When my 99 y/o grandfather got pneumonia and went into a coma, his children and grandchildren were all there. I flew from California. We all agreed to let him die. But not all families would have. Same with my 104 y/o grandmother.

But my 70 y/o stepmother has fought off four different cancers over the past two decades (leukemia, lymphoma, head/neck, and mets), and is now in a clinical trial, Herceptin for HER+ lung cancer. She is active and very much enjoying life. Her care has probably cost well over $1MM.

At the end of the day, I think the only way to limit end of life care is to ration it, either by cost (which will mean that, frankly, most of us will see our spouses or ourselves choose between death and bankruptcy) or by panels of doctors (who will be attacked as death panels).

That's why I asked if the TV program offered any solutions. I've never heard of any, that sounded palatable.