No easy task: End-of-life talks between doctors, patients

It was a death Dr. David Grube will never forget. One weekend more than 20 years ago, a neighbor's son appeared at his front door near Corvallis, Ore., asking for help with his father, who was terminally ill with bone cancer. Grube rushed over to find a horrific scene: Unable to cope any longer, the pain-wracked neighbor had shot himself. Grube, a soft-spoken retiree, still remembers the vow he made that day: "I will never allow any of my patients to get to that point." Today, Grube answers calls from doctors around the country, including California, seeking advice on end-of-life options for their patients.