Abstract
In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, one quality consistently required of all men is that of mercy. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Much of our modern medicine must be classified as good scientific medicine, but is it as well human medicine? Is the physician himself acting like a human being concerned with another human being? Doctors are men, and they should be men with aesthetic interests; they should be men with moral concern; and they should be men who have other qualities besides scientific technique and efficiency. I have been an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church for thirty-two years and a licensed physician for twenty-seven years. Through this span of time I have become increasingly concerned about the medical and public attitude toward death. When I was in clinical medicine, it was very easy to sign a death certificate. All that was required was my opinion that respira tion and heart beat had stopped. Today it is not so easy. Life, at least physio logical life, can be maintained by the most extraordinary means. If kidney function fails, the patient can be hooked to an appropriate apparatus that will do the work of the kidneys for a considerable period. Indeed, patients go in periodically to use such apparatus. If one has a disturbance of the respiratory gas exchange, it is a simple matter to connect him to various
Published Version
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