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I am a palliative care physician and lead the geriatrics and palliative care service line at RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey, one of the states hit the hardest by Covid-19 pandemic. Several weeks ago, at the beginning of the surge of cases in our state, an ICU attending physician at one of our system’s hospitals — Newark Beth Israel Medical Center — requested help. He asked me to call the family of a patient with the disease who was in dire condition to discuss his prognosis. I phoned the patient’s wife of 25 years.