The Best Care Possible by Ira Byock MD
A doctor on the front lines of hospital care illuminates one of the most important and controversial social issues of our time. Though the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home—which hospice care provides—many of us spend our last days fearful and in pain in a healthcare system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy to “fight disease and illness at all cost.”
Dr. Ira Byock, one of the foremost palliative-care physicians in the country, argues that how we die represents a national crisis today. To ensure the best possible elder care, Dr. Byock explains we must not only remake our healthcare system but also move beyond our cultural aversion to thinking about death. The Best Care Possible is a compelling meditation on medicine and ethics told through page-turning life-or-death medical drama. It has the power to lead a new national conversation.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“There is no palliative care physician for whom I have more respect and admiration than Ira Byock. 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 our best hopes for the final days of those we love and ourselves—and a corrective for our society.” —Sherwin B. Nuland, MD, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and author of How We Die
“With elegance, compassion, and energy, Ira Byock shows us how to get the best end of life care. He is a great storyteller and a brilliant analyst of health care in America. This is the book to read or give, if you are facing this hard situation. Nobody gets out of this life alive, but Byock shows us how to do it elegantly and well.” —Jane Isay, author of Walking on Eggshells
“This is an extraordinary and wise book on how dying people can be cared for. Written by a master clinician, a man of great compassion, Ira Byock has a vision of health care that is brilliant and kind.” —Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center, Sante Fe, author ofBeing with Dying
“In a world in which politics are polarized and ethical discussions often descend into a food fight, Ira Byock is that rare doctor: a humane guide leading us with honesty and compassion through complex stories about living and dying well. He’s a real-life rebuke to those who think palliative doctors are “death panels” and a mentor to every medical student inevitably faced with mortality. This is must reading for everyone trying to make humane decisions in a high tech world.” —Ellen Goodman, longtime syndicated columnist for The Boston Globe
“At a time when a long life can become a curse as readily as a blessing, this lucid and compassionate book points the way to more humane treatment of a life’s last days.” —Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
“The baby boom generation has transformed every stage of live we’ve touched. We’re now transforming the dying process. And Dr. Byock is leading the way… brilliantly!” —Christiane Northrup, MD, ob/gyn and author of the New York Times bestselling Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause
“A magnificent, moving, and deeply important work. Ira Byock is a trailblazer whose life’s work has forever changed the way we view dying in this country. But there’s much more to be done. The Best Care Possible is Byock’s urgent and passionate call to action for the nation. This book is a must-read for anyone who thinks there’s even a possibility that they someday might die.” —Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps, author-editor of Listening Is an Act of Love
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