> No doctor can ethically just not even try to save a life. There's a culture in the US of trying all treatment, even if it's hopeless. That's why "how doctor

> No doctor can ethically just not even try to save a life. There's a culture in the US of trying all treatment, even if it's hopeless. That's why "how doctors die" keeps getting discussion on HN. Doctors do not want this for themselves, and they don't really want it for their patients, but they're forced into it by the systems in which they work. https://hn.algolia.com/?q=how+doctors+die https://hn.algolia.com/?q=how+doctors+die Some other places don't have that. They have the concept of "a good death". If you're almost certainly going to die then is it better to do so in peace, or would you rather have someone breaking your ribs and maybe puncturing a lung to give you maybe a 1 in 100 chance of living for an extra two weeks? Talk to your family about how you want to die. Create advance directives ("living wills") and make sure people know where it is. In the UK this is a useful site: https://compassionindying.org.uk/making-decisions-and-planning-your-care/scotland/advance-directives/make-advance-directive/ https://compassionindying.org.uk/making-decisions-and-planni... https://compassionindying.org.uk/library/ https://compassionindying.org.uk/library/