Oregon doctor counsels Hollywood

[Max]

Oregon doctor counsels Hollywood

The Associated Press
November 16, 2002

PORTLAND - Dr. Susan Tolle isn't a script doctor, but she played one this week.

Tolle, an Oregon Health & Science University internal medicine physician, traveled to Hollywood to speak on a panel of experts about issues surrounding the end of a patient's life.

The audience was expected to include writers, producers and other entertainment professionals.

The purpose of the event was to promote a more accurate portrayal of end-of-life issues in entertainment programming.

"While in many cases Hollywood does a very good job in portraying end-of-life issues on the big and small screen, we hope to help producers, writers and directors as they continue to strive for realism," said Tolle, who serves as director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care at OHSU.

Tolle's portion of the presentation addressed terminal illness, advance directives, hospice care, death in a hospital setting and communication, as well as the process of decision making within a family.

She discussed the issues through a series of fictional scenarios based on real-life case histories.

Other panelists addressed hospice care, the legal issues surrounding living wills, geriatric caregiving and the psychological impacts of death on patients and their families.

"We're pleased that the entertainment industry is so interested in these issues," Tolle said.

"These story lines may cause families to begin discussions about treatment wishes at the end of life and may result in advanced planning, which lifts burden from families when a patient is unable to communicate their own end-of-life care wishes."

The panel will meet at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Tolle also has been invited to meet with a writer from the NBC show "Law & Order."

The two will discuss Tolle's experiences with end-of-life issues for possible inclusion in future scripts.







Copyright 2002 Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon