Blair Bigham, an ICU doctor and author of "Death Interrupted," shares his compelling journey from saving lives to confronting the complexities of death. He reflects on the emotional toll of working in emergency medicine and the ethical dilemmas of end-of-life care. Bigham candidly discusses his father's terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis, navigating the tension between his professional insights and personal grief. He emphasizes the importance of accepting the inevitability of death and the need for compassionate conversations about mortality.
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Flight Paramedic Experience
Blair Bigham, as a flight paramedic, worked tirelessly to save a woman hit by a dump truck.
The surgeon's declaration of "we're done here" left him feeling jarringly confused and sad.
insights INSIGHT
The Paradox of Saving Lives
Modern medical technology can save lives but also prolong suffering when recovery is unlikely.
Blair realized that sometimes adding more technology obstructs a natural death.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Brain Dead Patient
Blair recalls a patient declared brain dead whose family sued to keep them on life support for 400 days.
This highlights the costly and potentially unwanted extension of life by machines.
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How Modern Medicine is Complicating the Way We Die
Blair Bigham
As a lifeguard, a paramedic, and then an ER doctor, Blair Bigham found his calling: saving lives. But when he started to work in the ICU, he slowly realized that sometimes keeping people (and their hopes) alive just prolongs the suffering. He wrote a book arguing that a too-late death is just as bad as a too-early one, and that physicians and the public alike need to get better at accepting the inevitability of death sooner. As the book hit the bestseller list, Blair’s own father got diagnosed with a deadly case of pancreatic cancer. Blair’s every impulse was in direct contradiction of the book he just wrote. What should he do? And how can any of us know when to stop fighting death and when to start making peace with it?Special thanks to Lucie Howell and Heather Haley.EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Latif NasserProduced by - Simon Adlerwith help from - Alyssa Jeong PerryOriginal music and sound design contributed by - Simon Adlerwith mixing help from - Arianne WackFact-checking by - Natalie Middletonand edited by - Pat Walters
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