This article makes a lot of logical sense. While there are so many cases like JKat, above, I've also read that the country spends so much money on chemotherapy, which is still our best "tool" to use against cancer since the 70's, yet on average nationally, it doesn't "really" give that much of an extension of life and is a huge burden on the health care system. http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/freakonomics-and-cancer-treat.../ I'm quite positive that one could argue this point quite well from both sides, and I've personally dealt with both sides of this argument (lost, and gained a good friend and family members for more time) due to this. I also assume that since many doctors have access to specialized care, they opt for a more private route if they believe it's worthwhile. Bottom line, this makes good sense, they are around the pain and anguish daily, and maybe are a bit more desensitized to it, so they make less decisions based on emotion.