"How Doctors Die" by Ken Murray

In the essay, How Doctors Die, Ken Murray points out the surprising number of doctors who choose not to take extreme measure when it comes to their health.  The author discusses that the three main reasons for this are the patients, the doctors, and the system.  Ken Murray is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at USC.  After working in the health care system, he justifies the reasons that doctors do not want to be resuscitated or put through intense treatment when they are ill.  He describes that the doctors can see what the patients must go through, how doctors treat their patients, and how the system disturbs the requests of patients.  Murray’s purpose in writing this essay was to reveal that dying in peace is better than taking extreme measures.  Even though intense treatment may be able to prolong life, it can make a patient miserable.  The author wrote this essay with the intention of sharing his thoughts with anyone who is not a doctor and may be making decisions about emergency treatment for themselves or a loved one. 

Murray definitely proved his purpose in writing this essay using a few rhetorical devices.  The diction used by the author when describing futile care was a strategy that he used to accomplish his purpose.  Murray writes, “The patient will get cut open, perforated with tubes, hooked up to machines, and assaulted with drugs.” (Murray para. 4)  The verb choices that the author uses helps to show the destruction caused by futile care and show the reader that taking extreme measures is violent and invasive.  Another rhetorical strategy used by Murray is the anecdote about his cousin, Torch.  When Torch decided against any treatment for his lung cancer, Murray wrote, “He had no serious pain, and he remained high-spirited.  One day, he didn’t wake up… Torch was no doctor, but he knew he wanted a life of quality, not just quantity.” (Murray para. 19)  Through the anecdote, the author can connect with the reader by showing his relationship with a loved one who chose against treatment.  The quality of his cousin’s life helps to prove his purpose to his readers.  After reading the essay, I believe that most people would reconsider the extremes that they would go to, or make a loved one go through, to live longer.

Peaceful Death vs. Extreme Measures: Is it worth it?

Pitcture by Andy Otto