Extreme Measures

Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

By: Jessica Nutik Zitter M.D.

Narrated by: Jessica Nutik Zitter M.D.

For readers of Being Mortal and Modern Death, an ICU and Palliative Care specialist offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level


In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die.

Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical care—to become an ICU physician—and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the brink of death. But then during her first code she found herself cracking the ribs of a patient so old and frail it was unimaginable he would ever come back to life. She began to question her choice.

Extreme Measures charts Zitter’s journey from wanting to be one kind of hero to becoming another—a doctor who prioritizes the patient’s values and preferences in an environment where the default choice is the extreme use of technology. In our current medical culture, the old and the ill are put on what she terms the End-of-Life Conveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterized, and even shelved away in care facilities to suffer their final days alone, confused, and often in pain. In her work Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself: the prospect of dying badly. She builds bridges between patients and caregivers, formulates plans to allay patients’ pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well, even beautifully.

Filled with rich patient stories that make a compelling medical narrative, Extreme Measures enlarges the national conversation as it thoughtfully and compassionately examines an experience that defines being human.

Must read!

Wonderful book! The author keeps you engaged with stories we can all relate to patients we’ve had in the past. It gave me so much insight into why the medical system seems so inept at dealing with dying patients and end of life issues. As a nurse, I have a renewed passion to advocate for my patients at end of life. We all deserve to have our choices heard and honored. I would highly recommend!

A compelling new voice

Physician writers don't often accomplish what Nutik Zitter has with Extreme Measures. This was as informative as it was moving. I'm left with a deep sense of gratitude for the work she has done and will continue to do.

Brilliant & eye-opening

For anyone who wants to know what "the end" really looks like, this book is must reading. In fact, it should be mandatory reading for anyone who is - or is related to anyone who is - mortal. And I think that covers ALL of us. Spoken by the author with visceral compassion, Dr. Zitter compresses her 20+ years in the ICU with so many you-are-there stories of patients and family members in end of life crises, it truly becomes a rallying cry for us to Do Something Now, even beyond Advance Directives. Thank you for telling it like it really is, Dr. Zitter! m

A must read for every mortal human!

I am a retired ANP who has listened twice to this amazing book. Wonderfully articulated.

Should be required reading

Love her caring and courage --will recommend to all, and also discuss life planning with family,before an imminent situation develops !