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[Between therapeutic life support care and passive euthanasia: objective factors of intensive care in aged patients].

High medical environment in our society is related to an increase of intensive care in old patients. This situation could be looked unappropriate trying to survive people who are finishing their life. An appropriate medical evaluation and management is thus necessary in order to quantifie as fairly as possible both prognosis and specific risk. Factors at the source of mortality in elderly patients are multiple and additive. However two classes of risk can be distinguished. On the one hand some of the risk factors are intrinsic depending on the patient (i.e., neurologic impairement, age, severity of acute illness, previous health status). On the other hand some of the risk are extrinsic related to medical environment (i.e. length of stay in intensive care units, care quality...). This latter risks are improveable and thus are important to be pinpointed. Time is also powerful to assess the best prediction of outcome in old patient. Unlikely mortality rate in elderly is twofold higher (about 35%) as compared as young patients. Evaluation of intensive care unit outcome on 6 months survival make this rate worse as 10% to 20% secondary died. However most of the published studies show that duration in intensive care is similar undepending of age and outcome of the patient. It is also noted that quality of live after intensive care is the same in young or old patient. It is concluded that individual's and society's views concerning cost and effectiveness of intensive care in old patient do not always coincide with objective results. If medical motivation has to be preserved, specific care strategy remained to be established.

Age Factors↗

[Passive euthanasia].

After having been acquainted with the historical development of euthanasia, the following steps for assitance in dying, called passive euthanasia are being discussed. a) Assistance during dying without speeding up death is the self-evident duty of a doctor. b) Assistance during death and speeding up the same as an unavoidable result of therapeutical treatment, more or less desired or more or less unavoidable. c) Assistance through letting the patient die by abandoning all therapeutical means, when these would only lead to a short extension of life time. No doctor is compelled to take measures to extend life if it is against the will of the patient. He is not even entitled to do so. A special problem is the abandoning of extended operative treatment, this borders on the so called active enthanasia. The dying patient always has the same right of treatment by a docter as well as nursing like all other suffering human beings. The decision to let a patient die should not result in leaving him by himself and to abandon all nursing as well. Such steps would include letting him lie in dirty linen, not sucking off the mucous secretion from the trachea, refusal to assist during mealtimes, non-assistance during cathetering, and the removal of the dying person to the bathroom, or any other remote orner of the hospital. No dying person should stay without help Loneliness especially is the greatest pain of a dying patient.

Ethics, Medical↗

Dilemmas surrounding passive euthanasia--a Malaysian perspective.

In western societies where the principle of autonomy is jealously guarded, perhaps active euthanasia is more often the focus of public concern and debates rather than any other forms of euthanasia. However due to the advance in technology and its corresponding ability in prolonging life, in Malaysia passive euthanasia presents more of a dilemma. For those concerned and involved with end of life decision-making, it is generally agreed that this is an area fraught with not only medical but legal and ethical issues. In Malaysia where the society is not homogenous but is multi-cultural and multi-religious, in addition to medical, legal and ethical issues, religious principles and cultural norms further impact and play significant roles in end of life decision-making. This paper seeks to identify the issues surrounding the practice of passive euthanasia in Malaysia. It will be shown that despite applicable legal provisions, current practice of the medical profession combined with religious and cultural values together affect decision-making which involves the withholding and/or withdrawing of life-saving treatment.

Euthanasia, Passive↗