Liverpool Care Pathway

End of life care, while one of the most important questions for anyone facing a terminal illness has turned into a dirty political issue in US. This article talks about an approach taken in the UK known as the Liverpool Pathway. While this type of end of life care may or may not be feasible in the US, I think the Liverpool Pathway can frame the discussion we currently have about end of life in a different manner. Instead of focusing on cost-benefit analysis that drive a majority of policies in U.S. perhaps end of life care should be driven by a different philosophy. The philosophy that patients deserve a kinder death than is currently afforded to them by our medical system, cost shouldn’t matter and we should resist the temptation of pushing palliative care based on a cost benefit analysis. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/13/importance-open-end-to-life