Sherwin Nuland was a well-known surgeon in the US - at the top of his profession. He was the author of The Doctors, which explores the ethics of the medical world, How We Die, a bestseller in America and Britain and The Wisdom of the Body.

Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland drew on more than 35 years in medicine and a childhood buffeted by illness in writing How We Die, an award-winning book that sought to dispel the notion of death with dignity and fuelled a national conversation about end-of-life decisions. He died in March 2014 at his home in Hamden, CT.