PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Euthanasia, Passive”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources

Sacrificing one to save many.

Attempts to solve the Trolley Problem by means of a single principle have proved unpersuasive. Nor can the intuition about Transplant be adequately grounded in the hypothetical dissent of rational contractors. It is explained by the initial liability principle, that loss should lie where it falls unless there is sufficient reason to shift it. If we did not think we should accept misfortune in such cases and thought that minimising loss of life was sufficient reason to shift the loss we should not be according others the minimum respect and treatment we feel is their due. The intuition about Trolley is explained by the affinity of that case to the pure case where the choice is between saving many and saving fewer, where minimising misfortune is the only credible option. But these considerations are not yet enough to accommodate the cases that lie between the extremes of Trolley and Transplant. We can handle the intermediate cases by attempting to assimilate them to one or other paradigm and to one another with a sensitivity to morally relevant and irrelevant differences that seeks initially to be faithful to the values reflected by our moral intuitions. Those intuitive judgements are unlikely to survive such an examination wholly unmodified.

Double Effect Principle↗

Ethical considerations in critical and terminal illness in the elderly.

In a Baltimore geriatric center and hospital, a program was developed to individualize the treatment of critically and terminally ill patients. Part of this program was an effort to involve the patients themselves in the discussion of their personal wishes, and the provision of a set of guidelines for staff members to help them individualize the care of the patients. Some of the practical problems involved the the application of these ethical ideals are discussed. Merely implementing the protocol helped staff members to become more aware of these complex questions. Physicians should deal forthrightly with "right-to-die" and associated issues. The decision-making should remain in medical hands, and out of the courts and legislatures.

Aged↗

The ethics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. I. Background to decision making.

Futile cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may prevent humane care of the dying child and deprive parents of the opportunity to express their love, grief, and dedication at a critical moment, while appropriate and successful CPR may restore intact their child. Attempted resuscitation of corpses or children with terminal illness indicates inadequate knowledge, discrimination, and decision making. CPR is a medical procedure applicable to certain medical problems; weighing up the risks and benefits in each individual case is a medical function that is constrained by the law and must take full note of patient and family preferences, but cannot be governed by them and should not be over-ruled by laws based on complex but different cases. Time limits on occasions may curtail the full process of consultation and decision making. Applications of skills and resources in the right time and place requires understanding of the medical logistics and study of the potential for good outcome.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation↗

Withdrawal and limitation of life support in paediatric intensive care.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the modes of death and factors leading to withdrawal or limitation of life support in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in a developing country. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of all children (< 12 years) dying in the PICU from January 1995 to December 1995 and January 1997 to June 1998 (n = 148). RESULTS: The main mode of death was by limitation of treatment in 68 of 148 patients, failure of active treatment including cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 61, brain death in 12, and withdrawal of life support with removal of endotracheal tube in seven. There was no significant variation in the proportion of limitation of treatment, failure of active treatment, and brain death between the two periods; however, there was an increase in withdrawal of life support from 0% in 1995 to 8% in 1997-98. Justification for limitation was based predominantly on expectation of imminent death (71 of 75). Ethnic variability was noted among the 14 of 21 patients who refused withdrawal. Discussions for care restrictions were initiated almost exclusively by paediatricians (70 of 75). Diagnostic uncertainty (36% v 4.6%) and presentation as an acute illness were associated with the use of active treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Limitation of treatment is the most common mode of death in a developing country's PICU and active withdrawal is still not widely practised. Paediatricians in developing countries are becoming more proactive in managing death and dying but have to consider sociocultural and religious factors when making such decisions.

Cause of Death↗

Death by judiciary order.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and ↗

Cheap, managed death.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Administrative Personnel↗

Arresting but misleading phrases.

This paper discusses some common misconceptions of what a utilitarian approach to medical ethics is and of the conclusions it forces upon those disposed to accept such an approach. It suggests that broad and unargued characterisations of approaches to moral questions as 'utilitarian', 'Hippocratic' or whatever are likely to be misleading and counterproductive. What matters is not what to call the position that people feel inclined to accept but rather what arguments there are in its favour and what arguments there are against it.

Aged↗

Why let people die?

This paper concerns those patients whose brain is irreversibly damaged to the point where they will never recover significant mental life. I examine the reasons which justify the decision to withhold or discontinue active medical intervention in these patients. They involve the identity, quality of life and agency of those beings whom we value as persons.

Brain Death↗

Making decisions about the forgoing of life-sustaining therapy.

The incidence of withholding and withdrawal of life support from critically ill patients has increased to the extent that these practices now precede well over half of all deaths in many intensive care units (ICUs). Although the forgoing of life-sustaining therapy is ethically acceptable and clinically desirable in certain instances, and although physicians do not have a responsibility to provide futile care even if a patient or surrogate insists on it, they must be cautious in exercising their influence, if not authority, over patients and surrogates in prompting the withholding and withdrawal of life support. Such caution is particularly indicated because managed care has made patients suspicious of healthcare institutions and physicians who are rewarded for restricting access to care. Most patients and surrogates agree with reasonable physician recommendations to forgo life-sustaining therapy. When they do not agree, physicians should not limit care on the basis of their own personal notions of futility, but should instead rely on institutional or multiinstitutional futility policies. Such policies should be developed by health professionals, patients, community leaders, and, when appropriate, participants in managed-care organizations. They should specify which ICU interventions are beneficial, address potential conflicts of interest, and be available to persons who could use such information in selecting the source of their care.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Stopping life-sustaining medical treatment: psychiatric considerations in the termination of renal dialysis.

Data are presented regarding the decision by medical staff and by patients to discontinue renal dialysis. Some relevant issues regarding the patients are discussed, including their mental competence, underlying motivation and psychiatric state. Also some of the medical factors involved in the decision to stop treatment are considered. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the patients's sense of active participation and involvement in his treatment. Mention is made of the importance of interventions to decrease the psychological morbidity in survivors of patients who stop dialysis.

Anxiety↗

Evaluation of changes in forgoing life-sustaining treatment in Israeli ICU patients.

INTRODUCTION: Over the last several years, there have been legal decisions and changes in medical directives concerning end-of-life decisions in Israel. METHODS: The data were compared to evaluate the changes in the frequency and types of forgoing of life-sustaining treatment (FLST) in patients who were admitted to the ICU during period I (November 1994 to July 1995) and period II (January 1998 to January 1999). RESULTS: During period I, there were 385 ICU admissions, and during period II there were 627 ICU admissions. In period I, FLST or death occurred in 13.5% of patients, and in 12% in period II. There was no significant difference in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (9% vs 13%, respectively), withholding therapy (90% vs 91%, respectively), or withdrawing therapy (0% vs 0%, respectively) between the two study periods. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant change in the frequency or types of FLST in an Israeli ICU between 1994 and 1998, despite passage of a new Patients' Rights Law and the issuing of a Ministry of Health directive on the treatment of the terminally ill, both of which occurred in 1996, and recent district court decisions favoring the termination of life-sustaining therapies.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation↗