'Stroke or Overdose? Emergency Room'
(ink drawing, 23' x 30')
©May H. Lesser
The Professor of Medicine says, "As medical science and its miracles advance we are going to be faced with increasing numbers of very knotty ethical issues. As our population ages we are going to be faced with learning how to care for the very old, and of course, at the other end, we have to worry about the large numbers of crack babies who will probably always be outcasts of society. We are beginning to pay more and more attention not to just keeping people alive but in looking at the quality of their lives. It has been mentioned that 60% of the health care dollars in this country are spent keeping people alive in their last year of life and I think we have to look carefully at that. Whether or not that is a justified utilization of our resources. If we address the pathos of what we have created without medical progress, it could send a very strong message not only to the profession but potentially to the public as well."
Last Reviewed: May 11, 2012