OBJECTIVE: To describe how medical residents discuss do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders with patients. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Inpatient medical wards of one university tertiary care center, one urban ...

Questionnaires completed at two San Francisco health facilities by 118 male homosexuals with AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) revealed that, while the majority had thought about life-sustaining treatment and choice ...

In June 1997, the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that competent, terminally ill patients have no general constitutional right to commit suicide or to obtain assistance in committing suicide. Thus, the broad prohibitions ...

Advance directives have not fulfilled their promise of facilitating decisions about end-of-life care for incompetent patients. Many legal requirements and restrictions concerning advance directives are counterproductive. ...

The dilemmas confronting physicians and family members when elderly, demented patients refuse to eat are discussed. Lo and Dornbrand outline the arguments for and against tube feeding for those who will neither feed themselves ...

BACKGROUND: Medical residents commonly discuss resuscitation decisions with hospitalized patients. Previous studies suggest that the quality of these discussions is poor. OBJECTIVE: To learn about residents' experience ...

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a Missouri ruling that sharply limited family decisions about life-sustaining treatment for incompetent patients. The Court held that the Constitution protects ...

Two state courts recently have ruled on the issue of who may make decisions about life-sustaining treatment for incompetent patients. In