The daughter interrupted, bluntly asking if the doctors were trying to remove the equipment from her father to give it to someone else. Dr. Beshay said no, adding that it was a physician’s duty to inform a family that persisting with treatment was “not the right thing from a medical perspective” when chances of recovery were minimal. A day later, two patients were successfully taken off the treatment after improving, and others started on it, including the man in his 40s. A month later, however, doctors were having a difficult conversation with his family. Throughout the pandemic, such scenes have played out across the country as American doctors found themselves in the unfamiliar position of overtly rationing a treatment.

Source: International New York Times July 12, 2021 06:56 UTC