Doctors tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know enough about modern medicine to know its limits. They go gently into that good night - no heroics; no CPR.
Sometimes, a family really means ‘do everything’, but often they mean ‘do everything that’s reasonable.’ But they may not know what’s reasonable.
People have unrealistic expectations of what doctors can accomplish. CPR success rates are dismal. Ribs are usually broken if done right.
If the doctor is advising against further treatment, families think the doctor is acting out of base motives, trying to save time, or money, or effort.
In some unfortunate cases, doctors use the fee-for-service model to do everything they can, no matter how pointless, to make money.
More commonly, though, doctors are fearful of litigation and do whatever they’re asked, with little feedback, to avoid getting in trouble.
Amazingly, studies have found that people placed in hospice care often live longer than people with the same disease who are seeking active cures.