Isn t it wrong to starve someone to death by withholding artificial nutrition and hydration?
It is wrong to “starve someone to death,” but that is not what happens when artificial nutrition and hydration are forgone. Forgoing artificial nutrition and hydration can actually easy the dying process. Providing it can increase a patient s discomfort and cause medical complications. Whenever it is clear that the patient would not want to be kept alive by means of artificial nutrition and hydration, it should not be used for that purpose. (Ten years ago, this was one of the most frequently asked questions! A more complete discussion of this issue is found in the detail instructions that accompany the form as well as in numerous professional publications.
Related Questions
- If you let them start a life-sustaining treatment (LST), such as artificial nutrition and hydration, isn t it much harder to get them to stop it?
- What are the Legal requirements for withholding or withdrawing artificial hydration and nutrition (e.g. feeding tubes)?
- Isn t it wrong to starve someone to death by withholding artificial nutrition and hydration?
