Time to Die

Physicians are supposed to “Do no harm”, but does this include adding to and prolonging the suffering of terminally ill patients who are not in hospice care? In Time to Die, a young man is seriously affected by the “extended” dying of his mother and father and he sets out to better define the meaning of the Hippocratic oath. He is empowered by a dying Inuit woman who, gazing at a spectacular aurora borealis in Barrow, Alaska, receives the answer she is looking for regarding her decision to stop her own cancer treatment. Certain terminally ill patients in extreme pain unexpectedly begin to die in the Mar Vista hospital in San Diego. A surgical resident does what he can to palliate these desperately ill patients, but the head nurse, pushes for a more aggressive approach. The incipient loving relationship between them shatters over the definition of harm and the limits of a doctor’s ability to bring relief. Even a dedicated detective is stymied in his efforts to find the killer. Underneath a thrilling and provocative storyline, Clay Alexander writes a timely novel which addresses the end-of-life issues that we all have to deal with at some point.

Time to Die does not deal with death itself, but rather the quality of life at the end. The Hippocratic oath, written 2500 years ago and taken by newly graduated physicians states: “Do no harm.” However, with our current ability to extend life even in the people suffering most, should adding to and prolonging agony be defined as doing harm? The novel is the story of a young man who is seriously affected by the “extended” dying of both his mother and father. He becomes inspired by the decision of a dying Inuit woman in Barrow, Alaska, and sets out to better define the meaning of the Hippocratic oath. Certain terminally ill patients in extreme pain unexpectedly begin to die in the non-hospice Three North unit of the Mar Vista hospital in San Diego. A young surgeon-in-training, bound by his professional oath, hospital rules and the omnipresence of lawyers, does what he can to palliate these desperately ill patients. The head nurse on Three North, devastated by their suffering, pushes for a much more aggressive approach. The incipient loving relationship between them shatters over the definition of harm and the limits of a doctor’s ability to bring relief. A dedicated and skilled detective lieutenant is frustrated in his attempts to discover who is murdering these patients under the very eyes of the doctors and nurses. Underneath a thrilling and provocative storyline, Clay Alexander writes a timely novel which addresses the end-of-life issues that we all have to deal with at some point.

Dr. Alexander graduated from Yale with a BA in English followed by an M.D. from Cornell Medical College. His general surgery training was at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. Alexander spent two years as a Major in the Army taking care of Vietnam War wounded before entering academic and private practice. His first novel, Ultimate Malpractice, was published in 2013 and other interests are woodworking and painting. Dr. Alexander lives with his wife in Southern California. Website: clayalexanderbooks.com