ext_144952 ([identity profile] pyat.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] velvetpage 2005-12-23 03:22 pm (UTC)

...the patient's medical condition has deteriorated to the point where they felt it was inappropriate to keep her on the respirator.

Are doctors the ones who decide to stop treatment when a patient is conscious and asking for that treatment to continue? Should a treatment that is sustaining someone's life be withdrawn simply because the person isn't going to get better? In that case, where is the line drawn, in terms of life expectancy?

If she was going to live another year, conscious and alert on the respirator, would that make it wrong to take her off now? And if that would be wrong, then why is it acceptable to to take her off the respirator days before she died?

A conscious patient being taken off a respirator is euthanasia at the very least, IMO, regardless of their prognosis.

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