Contesting the Equivalency of Continuous Sedation until Death and Physician-assisted Suicide/Euthanasia: A Commentary on LiPuma

Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (United Kingdom)

Volumn 40, Issue 5, 2015, Pages 529-553

  Raho, Joseph A ^a   Miccinesi, Guido ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b ISPO Cancer Prevention and Research Institute   (Italy)

Author keywords

continuous sedation until death; higher brain death; palliative care; proportionality; reversibility

Indexed keywords

ASSISTED SUICIDE; DEEP SEDATION; ETHICS; HUMAN; PALLIATIVE THERAPY; TERMINAL CARE;

DEEP SEDATION; HUMANS; PALLIATIVE CARE; SUICIDE, ASSISTED; TERMINAL CARE;

EID: 84943569676     PISSN: 03605310     EISSN: 17445019     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jmp/jhv018     Document Type: Review

References (51)

1. American Society of Anesthesiologists. 2014. Continuum of depth of sedation: Definition of general anesthesia and levels of sedation/analgesia [Online]. Available: http://www. asahq.org/quality-and-practice-management/standards-and-guidelines (accessed July 14, 2015).
2. Berlinger, N., B. Jennings, and S. M. Wolf. 2013. The Hastings Center Guidelines for Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment and Care near the End of Life. Revised and expanded 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
3. Bernat, J. L. 1998. A defense of the whole-brain concept of death. Hastings Center Report 28:14-23.
4. -. 2002. The biophilosophical basis of whole-brain death. Social Philosophy & Policy 19:324-42.
5. Bernat, J. L., C. M. Culver, and B. Gert. 1981. On the definition and criterion of death. Annals of Internal Medicine 94:389-94.
6. Billings, J. A. and S. D. Block. 1996. Slow euthanasia. Journal of Palliative Care 12:21-30.
7. Broeckaert, B. 2011. Palliative sedation, physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: "Same, same but different"? American Journal of Bioethics 11:62-64.
8. Broeckaert, B. and J. M. Núñez-Olarte. 2002. Sedation in palliative care: Facts and concepts. In The Ethics of Palliative Care: European Perspectives, eds. H. ten Have and D. Clark, 166-80. Buckingham: Open University Press.
9. Cherny, N. I. and R. K. Portenoy. 1994. Sedation in the management of refractory symptoms: Guidelines for evaluation and treatment. Journal of Palliative Care 10:31-38.
10. Cherny, N. I., L. Radbruch, and The Board of the European Association for Palliative Care. 2009. European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) recommended framework for the use of sedation in palliative care. Palliative Medicine 23:581-93.
11. Claessens, P., J. Menten, P. Schotsmans, and B. Broeckaert. 2008. Palliative sedation: A review of the research literature. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 36:310-33.
12. -. 2012. Level of consciousness in dying patients: The role of palliative sedation: A longitudinal prospective study. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care 29:195-200.
13. Claessens, P., J. Menten, P. Schotsmans, and B. Broeckaert, on behalf of the Palsed Consortium. 2011. Palliative sedation, not slow euthanasia: A prospective, longitudinal study of sedation in Flemish palliative care units. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 41:14-24.
14. Cole, D. 1993. Statutory definitions of death and the management of terminally ill patients who may become organ donors after death. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 3:145-55.
15. -. 1992. The reversibility of death. Journal of Medical Ethics 18:26-30.
16. Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. 2008. Sedation to unconsciousness in end-of-life care. CEJA Report 5-A-08. American Medical Association [On-line]. Available: http://www. ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/opinion2201.page (accessed July 14, 2015).
17. Enck, R. E. 1991. Drug-induced terminal sedation for symptom control. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care 8:3-5.
18. Green, M. B. and D. Wikler. 1980. Brain death and personal identity. Philosophy & Public Affairs 9:105-33.
19. Holm, S. 2013. Terminal sedation and euthanasia: The virtue in calling a spade what it is. In Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives, eds. S. Sterckx, K. Raus, and F. Mortier, 228-39. New York: Cambridge University Press.
20. Jackson, W. C. 2002. Palliative sedation vs. terminal sedation: What's in a name? American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care 19:81-82.
21. Jansen, L. A. and D. P. Sulmasy. 2002. Proportionality, terminal suffering and the restorative goals of medicine. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 23:321-37.
22. Jones, D. A. 2013. Death by equivocation: A manifold definition of terminal sedation. In Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives, eds. S. Sterckx, K.Raus, and F. Mortier, 47-64. New York: Cambridge University Press.
23. Kirk, T. W. and M. M. Mahon, for the Palliative Sedation Task Force of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Ethics Committee. 2010. National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) position statement and commentary on the use of palliative sedation in imminently dying terminally ill patients. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 39:914-23.
24. Kon, A. A. 2011. Palliative sedation: It's not a panacea. American Journal of Bioethics 11:41-42.
25. Krakauer, E. L. and T. E. Quinn. 2010. Sedation in palliative medicine. In Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. 4th ed., eds. G. Hanks, N. Cherny, N. Christakis, M. T. Fallon, S. Kaasa, and R. K. Portenoy, 1560-68. New York: Oxford University Press.
26. Lamb, D. 1985. Death, Brain Death and Ethics. London: Croom Helm.
27. LiPuma, S. H. 2011. The lacking of moral equivalency for continuous sedation and PAS. American Journal of Bioethics 11:48-49.
28. - 2013. Continuous sedation until death as physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia: A conceptual analysis. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 38:190-204.
29. Lo, B. and G. Rubenfeld. 2005. Palliative sedation in dying patients: "We turn to it when everything else hasn't worked." Journal of the American Medical Association 294:1810-16.
30. Maltoni, M., G. Miccinesi, P. Morino, E. Scarpi, F. Bulli, F. Martini, F. Canzani, M. Dall'Agata, E. Paci, and D. Amadori. 2012. Prospective observational Italian study on palliative sedation in two hospice settings: Differences in casemixes. Supportive Care in Cancer 20:2829-36.
31. Maltoni, M., C. Pittureri, E. Scarpi, L. Piccinini, F. Martini, P. Turci, L. Montanari, O. Nanni, and D. Amadori. 2009. Palliative sedation therapy does not hasten death: Results from a prospective multicenter study. Annals of Oncology 20:1163-69.
32. Maltoni, M., E. Scarpi, M. Rosati, S. Dermi, L. Fabbri, F. Martini, D. Amadori, and O. Nanni. 2012. Palliative sedation in end-of-life care and survival: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Oncology 30:1378-83.
33. Miccinesi, G., J. A. C. Rietjens, L. Deliens, E. Paci, G. Bosshard, T. Nilstun, M. Norup, G. van der Wal, on behalf of the EURELD Consortium. 2006. Continuous deep sedation: Physicians' experiences in six European countries. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 31:122-9.
34. Morita, T., S. Tsuneto, and Y. Shima. 2002. Definition of sedation for symptom relief: A systematic literature review and a proposal of operational criteria. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 24:447-53.
35. Mount, B. 1996. Morphine drips, terminal sedation, and slow euthanasia: Definitions and facts, not anecdotes. Journal of Palliative Care 12:31-37.
36. National Ethics Committee, Veterans Health Administration. 2007. The ethics of palliative sedation as a therapy of last resort. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine 23:483-91.
37. Porta-Sales, J. 2013. Palliative sedation: Clinical, pharmacological and practical aspects. In Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives, eds. S. Sterckx, K. Raus, and F. Mortier, 65-85. New York: Cambridge University Press.
38. Quill, T. E. and I. R. Byock, for the ACP-ASIM End-of-Life Care Consensus Panel. 2000. Responding to intractable terminal suffering: The role of terminal sedation and voluntary refusal of food and fluids. Annals of Internal Medicine 132:408-14.
39. Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG). 2009. Guideline for palliative sedation [Online]. Available: http://knmg.artsennet.nl/Publicaties/KNMGpublicatie-levenseinde/Guidelinefor-palliative-sedation-2009.htm (accessed July 14, 2015).
40. Sebel, P. S., T. A. Bowdle, M. M. Ghoneim, I. J. Rampil, R. E. Padilla, T. J. Gan, and K. B. Domino. 2004. The incidence of awareness during anesthesia: A multicenter United States study. Anesthesia and Analgesics 99:833-9.
41. Shewmon, D. A. 2001. The brain and somatic integration: Insights into the standard biological rationale for equating "brain death" with death. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 26:457-78.
42. Sykes, N. 2013. Clinical aspects of palliative sedation. In Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives, eds. S. Sterckx, K. Raus, and F. Mortier, 86-99. New York: Cambridge University Press.
43. Sykes, N. and A. Thorns. 2003. Sedative use in the last week of life and the implications for end of life decision making. Archives of Internal Medicine 163:341-44.
44. Tännsjö, T., ed. 2004. Terminal Sedation: Euthanasia in Disguise? Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
45. Tomlinson, T. 1993. The irreversibility of death: Reply to Cole. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 3:157-65.
46. van Delden, J. J. M. 2013. The ethical evaluation of continuous sedation at the end of life. In Continuous Sedation at the End of Life: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives, eds. S. Sterckx, K. Raus, and F. Mortier, 218-27. New York: Cambridge University Press.
47. Veatch, R. M. 2005. The death of whole-brain death: The plague of the disaggregators, somaticists, and mentalists. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 30:353-78.
48. Ventafridda, V., C. Ripamonti, F. De Conno, M. Tamburini, and B. R. Cassileth. 1990. Symptom prevalence and control during cancer patients' last days of life. Journal of Palliative Care 6:7-11.
49. Wilson, K. G., H. M. Chochinov, B. J. de Faye, and W. Breitbart. 2000. Diagnosis and management of depression in palliative care. In Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine. 2nd ed., eds. H. M. Chochinov and W. Breitbart, 25-49. New York: Oxford University Press.
50. Youngner, S. J. and R. M. Arnold. 2001. Philosophical debates about the definition of death: Who cares? Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 26:527-37.
51. Youngner, S. J., R. M. Arnold, and M. A. DeVita. 1999. When is 'dead'? Hastings Center Report 29:14-21.