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Bioethical and Medicolegal Implications of Withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and Hydration from Adults in Critical Care

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Diet and Nutrition in Critical Care

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Abstract

The withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration or other life-sustaining treatments is a clinical decision, made in ICUs or in other settings, involving patients suffering from serious and irreversible diseases or impaired consciousness. Such clinical decisions must be made in the best interests of the patient, and must respect the wishes previously expressed by patients, laid down in their wills, in advance directives or in information passed on by relatives or legally appointed health-care agents, and in observance of common bioethical and legal rules in individual nations. Intensivists who are expert in the management of life-sustaining treatments are also involved in deciding when to withdraw futile therapies and instigate end-of-life care procedures for dying patients, with the sole aim of providing comfort and ensuring that suffering is not prolonged unnecessarily.

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Abbreviations

ICU:

Intensive care unit

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Carlo Moreschi & Ugo Da Broi

Authors
  1. Carlo Moreschi
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  2. Ugo Da Broi
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Correspondence to Ugo Da Broi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Rajkumar Rajendram

  2. School of Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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Moreschi, C., Da Broi, U. (2014). Bioethical and Medicolegal Implications of Withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and Hydration from Adults in Critical Care. In: Rajendram, R., Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Diet and Nutrition in Critical Care. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8503-2_145-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8503-2_145-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8503-2

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