The Hospice Movement

To the Editor.—  The editorial "The Hospice Movement" by John P. Callan, MD (241:600, 1979), was interesting but destructive. By adopting the same philosophical approach as the one that collectively calls the nation's health care programs the "health industry," he assesses the hospice movement's approach to man's "agony of extinction" in monetarist terms.I am relieved by personal knowledge that most Americans seem less dollar oriented. His apparent bias overlooks the fundamental motivation for the medieval and many of the modern hospices—the provision of a loving, caring (and Christian) approach to both the physical and the spiritual distresses of those about to die. In this context, the 20% savings in cost have a low, although satisfactory, relevance.The impotence of much modern technology to cater to spiritual problems reduces the value of bustling, noisy, overcrowded general hospital wards. The degree to which they can provide a restful, relaxed atmosphere is