Atul Gawande’s best-seller, Being Mortal, has touched a nerve regarding our medical system’s poor handling of aging, life-altering illnesses, hospice, and palliative care. His book raises the question of why the U.S. health system prizes the length of a patient’s life over the quality of that life in a person’s final years. I caught up with Gawande for the Washington Post’s Wonkblog after he delivered a public lecture at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Copyright Tim Llewellyn

He had done many interviews before mine. To tell you the truth, I worried that the interview would re-hash much that had come before.  In the event, we had a nice talk, which was a little different from the interviews he did with journalists who do not operate in medical or public health settings. I hope you enjoy it-more here.