The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life

Dr. Byock, one of the foremost palliative care physicians in the country, argues that the way we die represents a national crisis. Though the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die peacefully, at home, many will spend their last days in a disease treatment system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy to 'fight disease and illness at all costs.' Dr. Byock, puts a human face on the issue by telling richly moving stories-at once heartwrenching and uplifting -of people coping with the most difficult moments in their lives. As the pace of health care reform accelerates, he shows what truly excellent care can look like, and how wise and skilful doctors, nurses, and clinical teams can profoundly shape families' experiences of illness, caregiving, and loss. Told through page-turning life-or-death medical drama, The Best Care Possible is a compelling and passionate meditation on medicine and ethics. It has the power to lead a new national conversation. 'Dr. Byock's mission is to help everyone . . . find meaning, dignity, and peace in these final months of life.' Prevention magazine 'In this strikingly important book, Byock presents an agenda for end-of-life care that should serve as an ideal template on which to build out best hopes for the final days of those we love and of ourselves-and a corrective for our society.' Sherwin B. Nuland, MD, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics; author of How We Die.…