In our day-to-day activities, we often are required to choose depending on what outcome we want or expect to achieve by picking that particular choice. In some cases, choices we make don't always give us the result we want, as Atul Gawande (2014) illustrated in his book Being Mortal. Medicine is one of the disciplines with many encounters that require practitioners and patients to make choices in terms of healthcare decisions and treatment procedures. However, there is an existing dilemma on a doctor's moral obligation to a patient's choice since they have the right to make decisions regarding treatment choices given; they are in a sound state. Patient cognizance is growing, which indicates that patients should and can play a critical role in optimal care definition, healthcare delivery improvement, and own care decisions. If a patient's health choices implications are looked at from particular perspectives, it is always not the probably expected outcome. There will always be a contradiction between allowing patients greater choice and shifting healthcare policy to more focused on the provisions of standardized healthcare. The guidelines will always favor a patient's decisions limiting the physician's ability to advise otherwise. Choice, especially in the healthcare discipline bare either positive or negative consequences since life can be saved or lost. Lazaroff's case in Being Mortal shows that, at times, physicians should advise a patient on the best treatment choice depending on the expected outcome.
Physicians often bypass the truth about a patient's condition since they still hope that the patient has a chance to be cured. Atul (2014) demonstrates how all stakeholders involved in Lazaroff's case choose to stick by his choice despite knowing the consequences of the treatment method. Lazaroff, a prostate cancer patient, was given two treatments by the neurosurgeons after his condition worsened. As a result, he makes a wrong choice by opting for surgery rather than comfort care, giving him a chance to live longer. Atul and other physicals were aware that nothing could be done to eliminate cancer on Lazaroff's body completely as it had spread to his thoracic spine, which made his legs paralyze as his spinal cord was affected. Despite knowing that even if the surgery were a success, cancer would not be wiped out, the doctors went ahead and conducted the surgery, believing that there is still a chance for him to be cured. Lazaroff ended up suffering and finally losing his life because no one wanted to face the truth that the surgery would not have cured him. This would not be the case if Gawande and the physicians explained to Lazaroff that the surgery would not cure him but endanger his life. They would have advised him to take comfort care, which would have been better and would not have caused him suffering, just like his wife.
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Physicians are always aware of the possible outcomes of every treatment method depending on the patient's situation or how extreme the ailment is. Honesty is important to patients as it helps the healthcare practitioners recommend the best medication to the patient based on their complications. Gawande should have told Lazaroff the consequences of his choice and help him understand that his cancer had spread, making it incurable. Lazaroff hoped that the surgery would have eliminated his cancer and get his life back. However, he was not aware that no matter what the doctors did, he would never be cured, and the longest he would live in three months. If Atul would have told him the truth, he would he might have opted for a different procedure, and maybe he would have lived longer. Even though the patient had insisted that the doctors do their best to save his life, it was clear that the disease could not be cured, and honesty would have helped him understand no matter what the neurosurgeons did, there was no chance of eliminating cancer. Honesty is a crucial pillar in the healthcare sector, especially for patients with acute diseases, as it can save or end their life.
Reference
Gawande, A. (2014). Being mortal: Medicine and what matters in the end . Metropolitan Books.
