Hard-hitting stories of life and death are changing the rules from a PR perspective as New York-Presbyterian admits reality TV cameras.

For someone like Cornelius Bretz, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran, surgery might save his life. Dr. Tomoaki Kato thinks his patient has a chance to make it. Bretz has a mass on his liver.

After opening him up, however, the surgical team finds another mass, which pathology confirms is malignant. The team decides it cannot go further. Bretz has as ...