Ethical and legal issues in palliative care.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 11406442.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
As palliative care emerges as a respected and important component of contemporary health care, ethical issues will arise that confront and contest the provision of medical care. The basic principles of medical ethics, embodied in beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice, guide primary care physicians in dealing with dying patients. This article will discuss the basic ethical principles and the principle of double effect, decision-making capacity, advance directives, withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining therapy, futility, artificial nutrition and hydration, do-not-resuscitate orders, and physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Medical subject headings
- Ethics, Medical
- Family Practice
- Patient Advocacy
- Primary Health Care
- Terminal Care