title: Decisions to forego life-sustaining treatment.
abstract: Decisions not to start or to stop life-sustaining technologies raise the most frequent ethical problems in clinical and long-term care settings in the United States. At the University of Virginia Hospitals, 66% of the requests for ethics consultation concern decisions to forego treatment. The decision is especially hard in cases when death is the only alternative to starting or stopping treatment that is costly in pain and suffering as well as resources. The author presents five maxims, fitting five common dilemmas, to help guide the physician in making such decisions.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fletcher
mesh_terms: D030881:Disclosure; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006126:Group Processes; D007258:Informed Consent; D008020:Life Support Care; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States; D028761:Withholding Treatment