Withholding and Withdrawing Life-sustaining Treatment in Palliative Care
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Abstract
Medical life support refers to the devices used to treat critically ill patients experiencing organ failure so that the patients may receive treatment until the apparatuses can finally be removed. In cases where the patient experiences incurable disease during the final stages of life, these aids are of no use to the patients and can cause them to suffer. If the patient or their relatives wish to terminate life support to alleviate the patient’s suffering or to take the patient home to die, stopping life support can be done legally.
When considering whether to withhold life support to a patient or to withdraw a patient from life support, It is crucial to communicate with the patient or the patient’s relatives with tenderness and compassion and to considering the patient’s level of comfort. Support should also be provided to the patient’s family during the situation so that they do not feel guilty about the decision, and relevant health teams should be provided with training to continually develop their ability to care for patients.
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