I think it& #39;s hard for people to understand that, generally speaking, we do try to treat every patient like they are our family member w the treatments they get. We don& #39;t hold back the "best" medications or therapies. We rarely ration like that in the ICU... 1/

Instead, we are constantly deliberating about whether something will do more harm than good because when you& #39;re that sick the slightest bit of extra stress - even the extra fluids from medications - can add up and just make things worse...

Families always ask if we have stronger antibiotics or whatever. We don& #39;t. We could give you antibiotics that cover more bacteria at the risk of more side effects like intractable c diff diarrhea that could frankly be the last straw. Side effects can kill you.

If we have better, we give it. If there isn& #39;t access to something because it is experimental, I usually wouldn& #39;t want to give it to my loved ones. It is just too easy to hurt people trying to do more, do it faster, do it stronger.

The patient& #39;s voice is critical, but it isn& #39;t absolute. We work together. I& #39;m not going to let you or your family pick your ventilator settings... but I will https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💯" title="Hundert Punkte Symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Hundert Punkte Symbol"> let you decide if being on life support is within your goals or not. You& #39;re the boss, but you can& #39;t micromanage.