Mostly Dead vs Completely Dead: A Distinction Best Left to Hollywood
May 14, 2012
I was at a dinner a meeting of the Greenwall Faculty Scholars, a bioethics career development program for junior faculty,…
Glen Campbell: Still Performing with Alzheimer’s
February 14, 2012
My neighbor told me recently about a musician named Glen Campbell who is still performing despite Alzheimer’s dementia. This shows…
Potpourri from Clinical Work VI
February 1, 2012
Just finished another couple of weeks attending on the palliative care service, and wanted to share a couple of thoughts…
The Hospital Disability Syndrome
November 20, 2011
Ken Covinsky previously posted on GeriPal a while back about the dangers of hospitalization in older adults. Ken notes…
Advance directives reduce end-of-life costs in New York and Los Angeles
October 5, 2011
When have advance directives ever been shown to do anything? They were a complete failure in SUPPORT. Study after study…
GeriPal Enters into the Terrible Twos
June 19, 2011
On June 19, 2009, GeriPal was born. On that date the post ‘Support the Independence at Home Act’ was published…
The Clinician’s Role in Identifying Loss of Financial Capacity
February 15, 2011
“Mom’s been writing goofy checks…” “Dad stopped paying his bills….” “Grandma wired her savings to Nigeria…” Have you heard these phrases…
You’re Sick. It’s Serious.
February 11, 2011
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine has just released a new video called “You’re Sick. It’s Serious.” I…
Potpourri from Clinical Work IV
January 22, 2011
I was palliative care attending for a month, from mid-December to mid-January. Here a few observations from my time on…
“Allow Natural Death”???
December 6, 2010
I want to alert readers of a fantastic debate that just started at the New York Times New Old Age Blog about…