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Article: Terminally ill turn more to hospice care. (Healthcare Watch)
- Article from:
- Crain's Cleveland Business
- Article date:
- June 6, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The media last month reported how former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in her final moments, was in relative comfort, at home, surrounded by loved ones.
Mrs. Onassis, who died from cancer of the lymphatic system, did not want heroic, resuscitative measures taken to prolong her life, and her wish was granted.
Similar accounts of quiet death are becoming more common, as patients opt toward so-called living wills, or advance directives, and hospice care as they live their final days.
Thomas H. Murray, director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Case Western Reserve University, said 70% of the deaths in the United States result from decisions ...