EP:26 At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life with Dr. Sam Harrington

Hear Dr. Sam Harrington as we discuss his book, At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life. Does dying in the hospital hooked up to tubes scare you? What about your parents? How do you have the conversation? When do you decide that a caring choice is the decision to avoid repeated hospitalizations and over testing? You have choices you might not think you have. There are some things that will directly lead you down the path of hospitalization and then death. My guest, Dr. Samuel Harrington is an honors graduate of Harvard College and the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He practiced internal medicine and gastroenterology for more than 30 years in Washington, D.C. There he served on the board of trustees of Sibley Memorial Hospital, a member of the Johns Hopkins Health System, and the former Hospice Care of DC. As the American health care system evolved around him, becoming increasingly complex and increasingly commercialized, Sam became interested in end-of-life issues. We are going to talk about all these things and his book, At Peace, Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life.