title: The devil's choice: re-thinking law, ethics, and symptom relief in palliative care.
abstract: Health professionals do not always have the luxury of making "right" choices. This article introduces the "devil's choice" as a metaphor to describe medical choices that arise in circumstances where all the available options are both unwanted and perverse. Using the devil's choice, the paper criticizes the principle of double effect and provides a re-interpretation of the conventional legal and ethical account of symptom relief in palliative care.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law, University of Sydney.
authors.forename: Roger S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Magnusson
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics; D034723:Double Effect Principle; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D033222:Judicial Role; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000941:ethics; D018447:Medical Futility; D009014:Morals; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014428:Twins, Conjoined / Q000601:surgery; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid