Very odd that they wanted to verify with the family after getting the patient’s consent. Sure, costs are astronomical but patient wishes remain the highest priority. If doctors feel they cannot in good conscience provide what they deem as non indicated, futile care, they can get off the case.
I would not call it the insidiousness of the culture of death. Different people have different ideas about how much is enough. And medical professionals around it all the time see a lot and because the patients are not them or their own family members there is a tendency to recognize when care will be futile. But they can also be wrong. It is amazing how fragile and yet also, how durable the human body can be.
