Dr. John Robertson treated the mother of the Afshars before she died. (LAWRENCE K. HO / Los Angeles Times)
The Afshar brothers, clockwise from left, Arash, Kooshiar, Bahram and Babak, all from Iran, struggled with the U.S. way of managing end-of-life care. (LAWRENCE K. HO / Los Angeles Times)
Bioethics Program Coordinator Gretchen A. Case (LAWRENCE K. HO / Los Angeles Times)