Medical futility, treatment withdrawal and the persistent vegetative state.

The proof of the vegetable: a commentary on medical futility.

Patients with 'persistent vegetative state' (PVS) are often cited in the discussions of ethicists as examples of human beings who are unconscious and do not experience life, and a number of theoretical and practical recommendations have been made on that basis. This article examines the evidence and the theoretical rationale for the belief that people with PVS are unconscious and finds them wan...

Medical student involvement in patient care: report of the council on ethical and judicial affairs.

Use of life-sustaining or invasive interventions in patients in a persistent vegetative state or who are terminally ill may only prolong the dying process. What constitutes futile intervention remains a point of controversy in the medical literature and in clinical practice. In clinical practice, controversy arises when the patient or proxy and the physician have discrepant values or goals of c...

Persistent vegetative state and withdrawal of nutrition and hydration.

COUNCIL REPORT Medical Futility in End-of-Life Care

I N THE COURSE OF CARING FOR A critically ill patient it may become apparent that further intervention will only prolong the final stages of the dying process. At this point, further intervention is often described as futile. There has been controversy in the literature and in clinical practice regarding what constitutes futile intervention. Clinical paradigms of futile care often involve life-...

Withdrawal of treatment for minors in a persistent vegetative state: parents should decide.