When Medicine Cannot Cure: What Is the True Duty of a Doctor?
If euthanasia should not be legalized, then society must ask a more difficult and more compassionate question: what should a doctor do when a patient cannot be cured? The answer reveals something essential about medicine itself. The duty of a doctor is not exhausted when treatment fails, because medicine is not only about defeating disease; it is also about standing faithfully beside the suffering person. A distinction must therefore be made between curing and caring. Curing refers to the elimination of disease or restoration of health. Caring, however, goes deeper. It involves relieving pain , preserving dignity , offering honest guidance, and refusing to abandon the patient even when recovery is no longer medically possible. A doctor may reach the limits of cure, but should never reach the limits of compassion . This is why palliative care is so important in modern medicine. Palliative care focuses on improving the quality of life of patients facing serious or terminal illnes...