When patients refuse cancer treatment
When Joy Lisi Rankin's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she made a decision many people, especially her doctors, did not understand: She decided to forgo treatment.
"She was very reluctant to receive treatment," Rankin said. "And my memory of that experience with her is that most of the doctors at this time — and this is … the early 2000s — it didn't feel like a conversation. It felt like, 'We're telling you what to do as a patient and either do what we tell you to do, or there aren't other options.'"
On this episode of the "First Opinion Podcast," Rankin, Mullangi, and host Torie Bosch discussed the difficult choices around cancer care, how oncologists should respond to patients who don't want recommended treatment, and the emotional weight this all puts on patients, families, and doctors alike.
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