Publications
APS Bulletin • Volume 15, Number 3, Summer 2005
Resource Reviews
John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor
Shadowdad
Reviewed by John D. Loeser, MD
R. Watrous, Studio 4 Productions, Northridge, CA, 1999, 205 pages, $11.99 (softcover), ISBN 1-882349-09-1
This brief paperback describes the agonies suffered by the family of a man who sustained a dominant hemisphere stroke and lost the ability to speak. Subsequent strokes led to increasing impairments that deprived the patient of his autonomy, dignity, and desire to live. The author makes strong pleas for living wills, physician-assisted suicide, and even active euthanasia. He does not discuss the many contrary issues that have been widely debated in both the lay and medical press. The book is a nice expression of the Timothy Quill viewpoint, but it also seems to praise Dr. Jack Kevorkian and it does not really discriminate between the public actions of these two individuals.
Fortunately, the patient did not suffer from chronic pain in addition to his other indignities, which included the loss of motor and cognitive abilities. In that sense, this book is outside of the pain specialist’s customary purview. However, the issues raised are identical to those encountered with chronic pain patients who are nearing the end of life. The book is well written and worthy of discussion in the pain management community.
John D. Loeser is professor of neurological surgery and anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.