| Abstract: |
(create) This chapter originally appeared in Ann Intern Med, 2000, 133(7), 560-562. We are deeply troubled by a recent pair of papers on terminal sedation and "voluntary refusal of food and fluids" and the process by which they were accepted and published in Annals (see record 2009-23240-015). These papers appear to convey the mistaken and perhaps dangerous impression of a genuine consensus among experts and official policy endorsement of these practices. At the request of the editors, we address the issues raised by the first of these papers in this letter and address related issues separately. While some might even agree that sedation was appropriate in the specific case they describe, this does not mean that one should endorse the authors' general conclusions, which would justify a much wider range of "indications" for terminal sedation. "Suffering" is a very broad term, and it is unclear what sorts of suffering might represent appropriate indications for terminal sedation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved). |
