Death and the bogus contract between doctors and patients: an injection of hope and an illusion of control

This “bogus” contract between doctors and patients of delaying death, as described by Smith,1 is not limited to potentially fatal illnesses but pervades almost all medical care.Patients dutifully attend their general practitioners for “preventive” care under an implicit contract that this will keep them healthy and extend their lives. In reality, this transaction serves more as an injection of hope and an illusion of control, when it is limited to the management of probabilities not actual prevention.For doctors, the dissonance between gaining the faith of patients through the illusion of prevention, while knowing that it is a contract that will eventually and inevitably lead to failure, is one of the great unspoken burdens of healthcare.
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