Through the Valley of Shadows: Living Wills, Intensive Care, and Making Medicine Human

Hospital intensive care units have changed when and how we die—and not always for the better.

The ICU is a new world, one in which once-fatal diseases can be cured and medical treatments greatly enhance our chances of full recovery. But, paradoxically, these places of physical healing can exact a terrible toll, and by focusing on technology rather than humanity, they too often rob the dying of their dignity. By some accounts, the expensive medical treatments provided in ICUs also threaten t...