Chapter 7 Summary

References to William Osler's Ingersoll Lecture on the Immortality of Man, 1904, begin this chapter entitled "Accidents, Suicide, and Euthanasia." Lewis Thomas, another whom Dr. Nuland considers a medical savant, is cited. Dr. Nuland suggests that these esteemed medical professionals may have idealized death, giving in to pressure and human nature, when they stated that they had witnesses a minimal number of deaths that were preceded by agony. This author explained early in this book his opinion of the mythologies surrounding death and dying. It is in this chapter when the patient is most often a victim of his own circumstance. Not falling ill to the vagaries that are disease, the victims of accidents, suicide or euthanasia are well aware of their situation and their desired final outcome. Dr. Nuland cites the medical statistics that make the combination of these three events one of...