title: End-of-life issues: case 2.
abstract: When a dying patient lacks decision-making capacity, the general practitioner needs to collaborate with family members in making decisions about forgoing life-sustaining treatment. The key to working out the best course of action is for the doctor to have a very clear idea of which treatment options he or she considers acceptable or unacceptable. The choice of treatment depends on a thorough evaluation of all the clinical information and careful reflection, bearing in mind that medicine has its own proper limits. Life-sustaining treatment may legitimately be forgone if it is (a) therapeutically futile, (b) overly burdensome to the patient, (c) not reasonably available without disproportionate hardship to the patient's carers or others, or (d) refused by the patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Care, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Glare
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tobin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D010166:Palliative Care; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy