Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives

New from Cambridge University Press: Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives Continuous sedation until death (sometimes referred to as terminal sedation or palliative sedation) is an increasingly common practice in end-of-life care. However, it raises numerous medical, ethical, emotional and legal concerns. These include: the reducing or removing of consciousness (and thus potentially causing 'subjective death'), the withholding of artificial nutrition and hydration, the proportionality of the sedation to the symptoms, its adequacy in actually relieving symptoms rather than simply giving onlookers the impression that the patient is undergoing a painless 'natural' death, and the perception that it may be functionally equivalent to euthanasia.  This book brings together contributions from clinicians, ethicists, lawyers and social scientists, and discusses guidelines as well as clinical, emotional and legal aspects of the practice. The chapters shine a critical spotlight on areas of concern and on the validity of the justifications given for the practice, including in particular the doctrine of double effect. Introduction pp 1-28By Sigrid Sterckx, Kasper Raus, Freddy Mortier Continuous sedation until death: pp 29-46By Sophie M. Bruinsma, Judith A.C. Rietjens, Agnes van der Heide Death by equivocation: pp 47-64By David Albert Jones Palliative sedation: pp 65-85By Josep Porta-Sales Clinical aspects of palliative sedation pp 86-99By Nig...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs