Daniel Wikler offers a controversial analysis exploring alternative ways to support the conclusion that PVS patients should not be maintained. He finds the usual ethical justification for withdrawing treatment inadequate. ...

Paul Armstrong and B.D. Colen address the issues of deciding whether to withhold life-sustaining treatment from patients in a persistent vegetative state in the courtroom. They deplore what they see as unnecessary recourse ...

The authors document the first 19 months of a service dedicated to the care of hopelessly ill patients in a teaching hospital. A comprehensive supportive care team (CSCT) was established to ensure a humane, uniform, ...

Using the case of his elderly great-aunt as an example, a physician raises the question of obligations toward elderly persons who refuse treatment that could improve the quality of their lives. Miles' aunt, blind, frail, ...

The scientific basis of treatment decisions is analyzed, using controversies about the treatment of mild hypertension to illustrate both the importance and limitations of using data obtained from clinical trials to guide ...

The authors discuss state court decisions and statutes that address the refusal of artificial feeding by competent patients and the withholding of artificial feeding from incompetent patients. These decisions, the ...