Panda Bear: “If we but charged the families a small fraction of the cost for futile care or, more diabolically, had payment garnished from the patient’s estate upon their death, the families would be looking for the plug, especially in the cases where the ICU serves as an expensive funeral home where families can meet to see the body. If the family ever says, ‘We want to keep Uncle Joe on the ventilator until the rest of the family can fly in from Seattle,’ they should be responsible for the full cost of the additional stay.”
