title: Ethical and legal issues in palliative care.
abstract: This article reviews the ethical principles underlying palliative care, stressing the importance of respecting patient's rights to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment, including artificial hydration and nutrition. There is no ethical or constitutional right to receive physician-assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia. This article discusses current ethical controversies in palliative care, including futility, medication dosage and double-effect, terminal sedation, legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, and patient refusal of hydration and nutrition. Relevant legal issues are discussed in tandem with the ethical issues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Neurology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire 03756, USA. bernat@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bernat
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*