Withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining treatment

Abstract

The ethics of decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining therapies are reviewed. Special attention is paid to the ethical and moral distinctions - or lack thereof - between withholding and withdrawing. The ethical principles informing decisions to forgo life-sustaining therapy are covered, along with the difficulty of making such decisions in the face of prognostic uncertainty. Specific advice is provided regarding the decision-making process, and recent literature regarding decision-making in the neurologic intensive care unit is reviewed.

Keywords: competence and capacity; decision-making; end-of-life; life-sustaining treatment; withholding and withdrawing.