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Erich H. Loewy, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2001;161:329-332.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

IN THIS Commentary, I address some of the more recent problems and proposals made regarding end-of-life issues. Specifically, I address the question of orchestrating the end of life and put the recently raised issues of terminal sedation and self-starvation into that context. Patients who are at the end of their lives often ask that their physicians or, at times, families help them to hasten death. This is not because patients "want to be dead"—the life drive of most normal biological organisms militates against such a wish. The desire to be dead is generally not a desire to no longer be alive but an overwhelming feeling that being dead is preferable to "living this way." If, as is often the case, we can change the way in which patients live, the desire to die will vanish or, at the very least, diminish.

By making significant changes in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

WHO DECIDES?


WHO IS THE PATIENT?

TERMINAL SEDATION AND SELF-STARVATION

CONCLUSIONS
University of California, Davis
Department of Internal Medicine, Bioethics Program
4150 V St, Suite 2400
Sacramento, CA 95817

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