Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

By Daniela J. Lamas

Dr. Lamas, a contributing Opinion writer, is a pulmonary and critical care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

One night a few years ago, I watched a young man die over the course of 12 long hours because he refused a relatively common and safe medical intervention.

I remember he was in his 30s and had come into the hospital a few days before with burns on his chest from collapsing onto a hot stove in his kitchen. The doctors in the emergency department realized why he had fallen — his heart rate was........

© The New York Times