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Physicians dislike making very specific prognoses, but, sometimes, particularly in the care of desperately ill patients, they must do so to help surrogate decision makers choose among treatment options. A survey study suggests that much ambivalence surrounds these estimates.
San Francisco researchers interviewed 50 surrogates for 50 patients in intensive care units. Most surrogates (88%) expressed doubts about physicians’ ability to make accurate prognostications. Most respondents attributed their skepticism to the religious belief that God could intervene in any case. Some doubted anyone’s ability to predict the future, and others cited previous experience with inaccurate medical prognoses. Only one third of surrogates stated that specific …