When doctors know that they don’t know

By Nicholas Chadi

Boston Globe – February 25, 2017

IMAGINE THAT you are a medical doctor. You need to tell one of your patients that he has advanced-stage pancreatic cancer, an almost incurable condition. You learn that your patient’s only daughter is getting married five months from now. Without treatment, your patient has about a year left to live. Chemotherapy would increase his chances of being alive in five years by about 20 percent but would also double his chances of dying before his daughter’s wedding. Read more