You probably aren’t familiar with the term palliative care or the concept of a palliative care home. Palliative care refers to the care and medical treatment given to a person afflicted with a disease or condition for which there is no known cure or effective treatment. In traditional medical treatment doctors try to reverse or correct a condition through measures such as drugs and surgery. In palliative care health professionals try to make the victim as comfortable as possi

This story was originally published by ProPublica. My father, sister and I sat in the near-empty Chinese restaurant, picking at our plates, unable to avoid the question that we'd gathered to discuss: When was it time to let Mom die? It had been a grueling day at the hospital, watching — praying — for any sign that my mother would emerge from her coma. Three days earlier she'd been admitted for nausea; she had a nasty cough and was having trouble keeping food down. But while a