[The law number 2005-370 of April 22, 2005 concerning the patients' rights at the end of life: a case of polytrauma].
The law number 2005-370 of April 22, 2005 concerning the patients' rights at the end of life imposes from now the refusal of futility of care, a shared decision-making in unconscious patients and the duty of a palliative strategy. We describe a case of polytrauma, for which the shared decision-making process led to a palliative strategy after initial aggressive life-support treatments. This case underlines the need for a two-step model of decision-making process, which distinguishes between goals of care and withdrawal or withholding of life support. It suggests that implementation of written procedures could improve the quality of management at the end of life and traceability of decisions.
Chedevergne
K
K
Service d'anesthésie-réanimation, Samu 94, hôpital Henri-Mondor, université Paris-XII, Assistance publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, 51, avenue du Maréchal-de-Lattre-de-Tassigny, 94 010 Créteil cedex, France.
Cook
F
F
Scherrer
E
E
Marty
J
J
Ferrand
E
E