[-1:-8.00]and just let him swallow whatever he can.
[-1:-9.00]Chances are he won't live long,
[-1:10.00]but he won't be in pain."
[-1:11.00]No one wanted to take the responsibility for permitting an operation,
[-1:12.00]yet no one would give permission to stop feeding the patient entirely.
[-1:13.00]12  As a result,
[-1:14.00]the poor man continued on for nearly three more months
[-1:15.00]with a painful throatand frequent bleeding caused by sores in the month.
[-1:16.00]He died of a major infection — a sad way to die.
[-1:17.00]13  So what should responsible persons do
[-1:18.00]when confrontedwith the necessity of such an enormous decision?
[-1:19.00]14  What it all comes down to is common sense.
[-1:20.00]For the 30 years I have been a doctor,
[-1:21.00]and for hundreds of years before that,
[-1:22.00]doctors and families have been quietly cooperating
[-1:23.00]to decide what is best for a patient in the final phase of an illness.
[-1:24.00]15  In 95 percent of the cases a sympathetic,
[-1:25.00]reasonable decision can be made after appropriate discussion.
[-1:26.00]In 5 percent of cases where such a judgment cannot immediately be reached,
[-1:27.00]the proper decision will become apparent
[-1:28.00]after a few days or weeks of basic treatment,
[-1:29.00]observing the patient's progress.
[-1:30.00]16  Let me sound one note of warning.
[-1:31.00]Neither families nor doctors like to make life-death decisions.
[-1:32.00]But there is no question that if either party
[-1:33.00]insists on bringing in a so-called "neutral"third party
[-1:34.00](usually some representative of the state or legal profession),
[-1:35.00]not only will the process take longer,
[-1:36.00]in many instances it will be more arbitrary and less sympathetic.
[-1:37.00]17  What we are trying to avoid is neutrality;
[-1:38.00]the only people with any qualification to decide are those
[-1:39.00]who know the patient intimately and can put his or her interests first.
[-1:40.00]If there's one place from which teh interference of lawyers
[-1:41.00]and government officials should be barred,
[-1:42.00]it's from the rooms of critically ill patients.

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