Sharon R. Kaufman is Chair of the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of
Influencing the Character of the Future: Prognosis, Risk, and Time Left
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Published:May 2015
2015. "Influencing the Character of the Future: Prognosis, Risk, and Time Left", Ordinary Medicine: Extraordinary Treatments, Longer Lives, and Where to Draw the Line, Sharon R. Kaufman
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This chapter examines four decision-making moments regarding treatment options. It shows how prognosis and risk assessment organize doctors’ practices and patients’ and families’ experiences with respect to remaining time, the control of time, and the relationship of medical interventions to “time left.” By offering prognoses, medicine instructs us to imagine different future scenarios, then it insists that we choose among them.
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