Withdrawal of DDAVP in the persistent vegetative state: a hospital ethics committee case study.

Persistent vegetative state and withdrawal of nutrition and hydration.

Persistent vegetative state, withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration, and the patient's "best interests".

Editorial Persistent vegetative state, withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration, and the patient's "best interests" In this issue of the journal Anthea Fenwick, an Edinburgh University graduate law student, robustly challenges the use of "best interests" by English judges in the context of permitting withdrawal of life-supporting nutrition and hydra-tion from patients in persistent vege...

Applying best interests to persistent vegetative state--a principled distortion?

"Best interests" is widely accepted as the appropriate foundation principle for medico-legal decisions concerning treatment withdrawal from patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS). Its application appears to progress logically from earlier use regarding legally incompetent patients. This author argues, however, that such confidence in the relevance of the principle of best interests to PV...

Medical futility, treatment withdrawal and the persistent vegetative state.

Why do we persist in the relentless pursuit of artificial nourishment and other treatments to maintain a permanently unconscious existence? In facing the future, if not the present world-wide reality of a huge number of persistent vegetative state (PVS) patients, will they be treated because of our ethical commitment to their humanity, or because of an ethical paralysis in the face of biotechni...

The Englaro Case: withdrawal of treatment from a patient in a permanent vegetative state in Italy.

The international media recently reported the case of Eluana Englaro, a 38-yearold woman in a permanent vegetative state (PVS) who died in February 2009 following withdrawal of her feeding tube. At the time of her death, she had been unconscious for 17 years. For many years, her father had been seeking permission to allow her to die. His request was rejected by the courts several times on diffe...