Cause of death?

It was after midnight and Dr. Anderson had been pouring over the charts and various lab reports of Matthias, a patient who had died a day before his 102nd birthday. I mentioned that he had been spending a lot of time studying the charts and asked him "What are you looking-for?"

"I'm determining the cause of death."

"Cause of death," I laughed, "Old age!"

He glared at me, pointed his index finger at my face, and accentuating his words with his finger said, "Look! Buster! There is no such thing as death due to old age! Something goes wrong or you go on living." He returned to his charts and I didn't interrupt him again.

I knew, as well as the doctor, that Matthias wasn't in the hospital because of his age. He was in the hospital because he was struck by a car as he crossed the street on the way home from the bar at closing time. And as soon as Dr Anderson glared at me, I realized the importance of determining whether his accident injuries caused his death.



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