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Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:149-150.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The Hippocratic Oath and all other known declarations of medical professional commitment bind and adjure us to care for the sick. They do not stop at requiring attempts to cure; they require care for the suffering that results from sickness. No exceptions. So it is startling that, in an era when we are capable of alleviating so much suffering, much suffering still goes unattended.^1-3 Palliative care has never been equipped with such an array of possible pharmacological, technical, and service resources as well as teachable human skills.^4-8 It is unfortunate that most practicing physicians today were trained in a medical culture that often assumed it was not the responsibility of the curatively motivated physician to provide comfort or alleviate suffering.⁹ All of us could have done something to alleviate those problems, and all of us still can. No exceptions.

Palliative care emerged as a discipline through the hospice and end-of-life . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD