In defiance of death : exposing the real costs of end-of-life care / Kenneth A. Fisher ; with Lindsay E. Rockwell and Missy Scott ; foreword by Benjamin Brown.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword: The Art of Medicine / Benjamin Brown -- Ch. 1. Dying in America Today -- Ch. 2. Roots of the Problem: The Patient Self-Determination Act, Advance Directives, and the Americans with Disabilities Act -- Ch. 3. Why We Need Appropriate Care Committees -- Ch. 4. The Three Most Typical End-of-Life Populations -- Ch. 5. Hospitals, Escalating Costs, and End-of-Life Care -- Ch. 6. Nursing Homes -- Ch. 7. Palliative Care and Hospice -- Ch. 8. A Big Step in the Right Direction: The VA Transforms End-of-Life Care -- Ch. 9. Results of My Nonscientific, Revealing Survey -- Ch. 10. The Winds of Change: Suggestions for New Directions in End-of-Life Care -- App. 1. The Survey Questionnaires -- App. 2. Family-Physician Interactions -- App. 3. The Baby K Case -- App. 4. In Support of Appropriate Care Committees -- App. 5. American Medical Education -- App. 6. Pharmaceutical Company Issues -- App. 7. The Economic Impact of Our Healthcare If We Do Not Change -- App. 8. The Truth about America's Healthcare System - Most Expensive Bad Results -- App. 9. Dying in America -- App. 10. Universal Healthcare in America: The Lure of a Quick Fix.

"In Defiance of Death reviews the current state of end-of-life care and highlights its many problems from a variety of economic, political, and social perspectives. Fisher and Rockwell illuminate the ethical dilemmas we all face as technology allows us to prolong life - but at a huge human and financial cost. This book documents these problems and provides a historical perspective of how our medical system evolved. The authors argue that America's "defiance of death" is far too costly and recommend that all stakeholders - including the public, medical community, Congress, and business leaders - join together to create a system that improves end-of-life care for everyone involved."--BOOK JACKET.