A Life Worth Living: A Doctor's Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era

Critical illness is a fact of life. Even those of us who enjoy decades of good health are touched by it eventually, either in our own lives or in those of our loved ones. And when this happens, we grapple with serious and often confusing choices about how best to live with our afflictions.

A Life Worth Living is a book for people facing these difficult decisions. Dr. Robert Martensen draws on decades of experience with patients and friends to explore the life cycle of serious illness. He connects personal stories with reflections on mortality, human agency, and the value of cutting-edge technology in caring for the critically ill. Timely questions emerge: To what extent should efforts to extend human life be made? What is the value of nontraditional medical treatment? How has the American healthcare system affected treatment of the critically ill? And finally, what are our doctors' responsibilities to us as patients, and where do those responsibilities end?

Using poignant case studies, Martensen demonstrates how we and our loved ones can maintain dignity and resilience in the face of life's most daunting circumstances.


About the Author

A physician, historian, and bioethicist, Robert Martensen has held several professorships. Recently he joined the National Institutes of Health as director of its Office of History and Museum. In 2002 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship.