Think You Could Postpone Death to See a Relative? Think Again

From a JAMA embargo release:

Many of us think that the terminally ill can postpone their deaths so that they can see a relative, experience their last birthday or enjoy a special holiday - sadly, this is a myth, according to a new study. The study looked at the records of 300,000 cancer patients who died in Ohio, USA, between 1989-2000. The study found that they did not have the ability, or the desire, to wait till after Christmas, their birthdays or Thanksgiving before they died.

"For Christmas, Thanksgiving, or the individual's birthday, during the 12-year period there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients dying in the week after the event compared with the proportion dying in the week before the event," the researchers write. "Although overall birthday data showed no effect, women dying of cancer were more likely to die during the week before their birthday compared with the following week. Men showed no significant differences. In no subgroup was a statistically significant decrease of deaths observed in the week before the event."

"Although we cannot eliminate the possibility that a small number of dying cancer patients have the ability to control the timing of their death, the proportion would have to be much smaller than that previously reported," the authors write. " Š analysis of thousands of cancer deaths shows no pattern to support the concept that 'death takes a holiday.'"

-Dominic Sisti [from MCW]