A costly separation between withdrawing and withholding treatment in intensive care.

Journal article

Ethical analyses, professional guidelines and legal decisions support the equivalence thesis for life-sustaining treatment: if it is ethical to withhold treatment, it would be ethical to withdraw the same treatment. In this paper we explore reasons why the majority of medical professionals disagree with the conclusions of ethical analysis. Resource allocation is considered by clinicians to be a legitimate reason to withhold but not to withdraw intensive care treatment. We analyse five argumen...

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Authors: Wilkinson, D; Savulescu, J

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Bioethics
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 127-137
• Publication date: 2014-03-01
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2012.01981.x
• EISSN: 1467-8519
• ISSN: 0269-9702
• Language: English
• Keywords: Humans; Euthanasia, Passive; Intensive Care; Vulnerable Populations; Conflict of Interest; Morals; Health Care Rationing; Time Factors; Withholding Treatment; Ethics, Medical; Patient Admission; Wedge Argument; Great Britain; Informed Consent; Hospital Mortality; Ethical Analysis