ICU doctors and nurses have been on the front lines of battling COVID, and decisions about procedures and interventions are most often made by doctors, frequently without a patient's consent. But attitudes towards end of life care have shifted with the pandemic, and many people are now rethinking advanced care plans in the event of illness.
In her recent New York Times op-ed, “When Faced With Death, People Often Change Their Minds,” critical care physician Daniela Lamas says advanced care planning is important, but points out that making an advanced directive when you’re young and healthy might not reflect how you feel when faced with death.
Jonathan Bastian talks with Dr. Lamas, a pulmonary and critical-care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, about how her attitude is changing when evaluating quality of life over certain death.
Dr. Daniela Lamas says that making an advanced directive when you’re young and healthy might not reflect how you feel when faced with death. Photo by Beowulf Sheehan