Acknowledging the roles and views of the caregiver may be the first step to resolving disagreements between caregivers and clinicians over artificial nutrition at the end of life.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(7):656-662. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.7.ecas3-1707.
Meera Balasubramaniam, MD, MPH and Yesne Alici, MD
A 15-year-old advance directive made when the patient was in much better health and not updated can bring more confusion than clarity to the decision-making process.
A 15-year-old advance directive made when the patient was in much better health and not updated can bring more confusion than clarity to the decision-making process.
When ventilator support is being withdrawn from a dying child, responsive titration of sedative medications by the ICU team can relieve suffering without anesthetizing the child completely or hastening death.
Jalayne J. Arias, JD, MA and Kathryn L. Weise, MD, MA
Even when external factors such as nonaccidental injury weigh heavily on clinicians' perceptions, they should not lose focus on the patient's best interest when deciding whether to continue or withdraw treatment.