Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

by ziggy Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:02 pm

............................ Oltzik received what some doctors call palliative sedation and others less euphemistically call terminal sedation. While the national health coverage debate has been roiled by questions of whether the government should be paying for end-of-life counseling, physicians like Halbridge, in consultations with patients or their families, are routinely making tough decisions about the best way to die.

Among those choices is terminal sedation, a treatment that is already widely used, even as it vexes families and a profession whose paramount rule is to do no harm.

Doctors who perform it say it is based on carefully thought-out ethical principles in which the goal is never to end someone’s life, but only to make the patient more comfortable.

But the possibility that the process might speed death has some experts contending that the practice is, in the words of one much-debated paper, a form of “slow euthanasia,” and that doctors who say otherwise are fooling themselves and their patients.

There is little information about how many patients are terminally sedated, and under what circumstances — estimates have ranged from 2 percent of terminal patients to more than 50 percent. (Doctors are often reluctant to discuss particular cases out of fear that their intentions will be misunderstood.)

While there are universally accepted protocols for treating conditions like flu and diabetes, this is not as true for the management of people’s last weeks, days and hours. Indeed, a review of a decade of medical literature on terminal sedation and interviews with palliative care doctors suggest that there is less than unanimity on which drugs are appropriate to use or even on the precise definition of terminal sedation. ......................................

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/dec/27/hard-choice-comfortable-death-drug-induced-sleep/

by **SheikBen** Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:22 pm

Hi Zig,

I think herein lies a great compromise on end of life care. Ethically I do not believe in assisted suicide (or suicide of any kind), but I do believe that someone should be as comfortable as possible, even if that comfort ends up killing them, provided that this was not the intent.

by Aaron Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:24 pm

My father died of a massive heart attack and was gone within seconds. I had a brother die the same way. My mother, after smoking for ONLY 67 of her 74 years, finally succumbed to COPD and after signing a DNR and refusing a ventilator, went to sleep in very little pain (she did want a cigarette which I would have given her had she ask) in Cabell Huntington Hospital and woke up in Heaven.

I pray my ending is similar.

My father, who watched cancer eat his father from 250 lbs to 85 lbs over the course of a year, stated that if were diagnosed with that disease, he would buy a 5th of whiskey, drive to Hawks Nest, consume it and fly.

After seeing what cancer did to my ex father in law, I understand his reasoning. I think an end of life decision should be left solely up to the individual and if ending their life is their choice and they need assistance, I have no problem with that at all whatsoever.

by **SheikBen** Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:05 pm

Aaron,

I don't see why drugging him up on whatever he'd like (including whiskey) couldn't been done until his death without killing him intentionally. My problem is with the practice of assisted suicide--if your dad wants to go out that way, I find it wrong but obviously how do you make suicide illegal? Smile

It's a dark gag but very true--you can't kill a man born to hang.

I pray that he is neither diagnosed with cancer nor flies off of hawk's nest, of course.

by Aaron Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:33 pm

My father passed in 1979 of a heart attack Mike. And I think until you actually live through something, it's hard to say what you would do. I can remember as a kid after hearing him say that thinking, "what if you could live for another year or 2.

After witnessing that "next year or two" with my ex Father in law, I don't ask that question any longer. In the last 6 months he begged EVERY member of his family to help him stop the pain and none of them would. Finally, someone left him a pill bottle containing 75 oxy cotton. He took them all.

His youngest daughter came in 10 minutes later, found the bottle called an ambulance and they were able to pump his stomach and after a couple of days in a coma, he regained conscience. During the minutes of clarity a day he had, I'm not sure he ever spoke to her again.

My sister in law passed away in May after suffering from Cancer for a year. She was only about half way through the deteriotation when a blood clot let loose and killed her. I have heard my brother say that he would rather that have happened then go through the next year.

Like I said, if someone is of sound mind and they don't want to suffer, I have no problem with them finding assistance. Considering much of their suffering can be attributed to the assistance they are given in remaining alive, how can assisting then in ending that suffering not be humane?

by TerryRC Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:10 pm

I watched my grandmother die a wasted, shivering wreck from terminal cancer, begging for the end to come.

You are damned right I believe in assisted suicide. If I had been dispensing her meds, I would have acted on that belief.

by **Stephanie** Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:52 pm

Montana 3rd State to Allow Doctor-Assisted Suicide

by SamCogar Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:46 am

Aaron wrote:Like I said, if someone is of sound mind and they don't want to suffer, I have no problem with them finding assistance. Considering much of their suffering can be attributed to the assistance they are given in remaining alive, how can assisting then in ending that suffering not be humane?

DUH, because it is inhumane to be depriving Hospitals, Medical Providers, Medical Suppliers, etc., of their Right to earn a Living Wage and depriving Christian Claimers and/or Liberals of their Right to tell everyone what they can or can not do with or to their own body.

Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation? 33948

,

by Aaron Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:42 pm

I agree Sam. 30% of Medicare's budget is spent on a beneficiaries final year of life. How much do we spend hooking someone up to a tube and allowing them to lay in a hospital bed for weeks on end.

After all that I've seen, not only will I have a medical power attorney clearly spelling out what I want, I will make sure my boys understand this, I'll ensure that they will abide by my decisions even if I have to give the power to pull the plug to their mother.

by Sponsored content

Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?

Re: Comfort sedation? Or terminal sedation?