Dax Cowart Obituary

[Last week, we featured a NY Times article by Dr. Alessandra Colaianni about a T.E.N. patient that she cared for in Boston.  In it, she referenced Dax Cowart.  So, my attention was piqued when I saw his obituary in the Times on May 15^th.]

Full NY Times Obituary.

Dax Cowart (1947 - 2019)

After his immolation, Dax became a lawyer and a prominent patients’ rights advocate. In the face of what he saw as medical paternalism, he argued that patients should have more autonomy over what treatments they receive and a choice in whether they even receive any treatment at all.

He overcame his hopelessness and found a mission in trying to persuade doctors to demonstrate greater respect for their patients’ wishes.  Cowart articulated his ideas in a powerful, positive way, and influenced many young doctors in their approach to patient care.

“To make this clear,” he added, “if the same thing were to occur tomorrow, and knowing that I could reach this point, I would still not want to be forced to undergo the pain and agony that I had to undergo to be alive now. I would want that choice to lie entirely with myself and no others.”

Not that you have time; but here is the Dax Cowart Documentary (1 hr).

The Pride of Lab Rats

No Worst, There is None

By Alessandra Colaianni, M.D.

New York Times, May 10, 2019

She was young and strong, fought hard no matter what we did, tried to pull the breathing tube from her throat each time she approached sufficient consciousness to permit purposeful movement. Her eyelids were sewn shut to protect her eyes from desiccation, but this did not prevent tears from rolling down her face. In the burn surgery intensive care unit, she lived out this nightmare in a heated cage made of what looked and felt like plastic wrap: a necessary intervention, for she had lost every last bit of her skin.

This beautiful essay was written by a senior ENT resident from Boston.  There is much in it for all of us. Osler wrote: “I would urge upon you to care more particularly for the individual patient than for the special features of the disease. Dealing as we do with poor suffering humanity, we see the man unmasked, exposed to all the frailties and weaknesses, and you have to keep your heart soft and tender…”  Dr. Colaianni’s beautiful essay channels Osler.  Hypertext Link. (If this does not work, I'll send you a pdf.