Law AC, et al. - Researchers undertook this retrospective cohort study to evaluate trends in the timing of death among patients with septic shock from 1994 to 2014. They analyzed hospitalized adults (≥ 18 yr) with International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification codes consistent with septic shock. Including adults receiving invasive mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure, as per International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification codes, as well as patients with both septic shock and acute respiratory failure receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, they performed a secondary analysis. Findings revealed a marked fall in septic shock 48-hour, 3–14-day and greater than 14-day mortality observed over two decades, whereas, only marked reductions in greater than 14-day in-hospital mortality rates were observed in patients with acute respiratory failure. For septic shock, for acute respiratory failure receiving invasive mechanical ventilation and septic shock, and for acute respiratory failure receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, the Cox proportional hazard ratio for decreasing risk in death per year (adjusted for patient and hospital characteristics) was estimated to be 0.96 (95% CI, 0.96–0.96), 0.97 (0.97–0.97), and 0.99 (0.99–0.99), respectively.