Resource Tag: PALLIATIVE TREATMENT

This article is an English translation. The original Spanish text is also available.

This article is an English translation. The original Spanish text is also available.

This article is an English translation. The original Spanish text is also available.

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This article profiles Dr. Doris De Groot, a palliative care physician. De Groot discusses how she believes that, ‘with the right support a family can experience growth & healing in the dying process”.

This article summarizes important arguments both favoring and opposing physician-assisted suicide (PAS). On one side are those demanding a total ban on PAS. On the other are those who claim that PAS is a constitutional right and should remain unregulated, as a private transaction between patient and physician.

This editorial discusses the dilemma that patients & physicians feel when faced with terminal or debilitating illness. Both sides of the physician-assisted suicide issue are explored. The role of the hospice is discussed. States that despite the lack of training in the medical profession, physicians must become comfortable in dealing with this sensitive issue.

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Letter to the editor.

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This article discusses Netherlands health care institutions with reference to institutions for the mentally handicapped, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, & general hospitals. Regarding patient’s decisions toward the end of life, 3 responsibilties for hospitals are noted: attend to needs of the patient; offer professional expertise & experience; & execute responsibilities entrusted by society. While some […]

This article provides an overview of the international literature on occupational stress in hospice/palliative care, tracing it from evolution to the present day. It concludes that the stress that exists in palliative care is due in large measure to organizational & societal issues, although personal variables were also found to have an influence. The Appendix […]

This letter to the editor responds to previous authors’ contentions that there is a lack of data on patients who wish to die. Glare lists a study at a Sydney Palliative care center between 1992-93 which shows that 2.8% of patients admitted expressed a wish to die. These patients were of 2 groups: those that […]

Each year the Medical Post surveys Canadian doctors about their medical practices. This article reports on the 1995 survey, particularly questions of physician-assisted suicide & euthanasia, decision-making, & pain control. 49% of respondents agreed that there are some circumstances in which physicians should definitely be free to help patients commit suicide; only 1 in 6 […]

In this article, 3 practitioners with experience in palliative care discuss their approaches to difficult clinical circumstances detailed in a case history of a 34-year-old woman. They agree on the need to provide a high level of skill in diagnosis & treatment with special attention to commnication & negotiation; recognize that “ethical” decisions that determine […]

The practice of hospice & palliative care in the UK is described in this article. It refers to an earlier article outlining the challenges facing hospice care in Oregon (AN 950110) & notes that in reviewing the British euthanasia law, the Select Committee recommended palliative care be mpore widely researched & taught. Work is guided […]

This Letter to Editor comments on the list of palliative care supporters of the position statement put forward by Drs. Latimer & McGregor. The authors respond noting the comments provide an example of the inequities in palliative care services. Canadians do not have equal access to such service. Providing such access should be an ethical […]

This article discusses the Report of the Senate Special Committee on Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide. The senators voted against legalizing both of these practices. The report is seen to mirror the debate & the divisions that exist within society. It recommends increased resources for palliative care & more specialized training for physicians & health professionals. […]

A Select Committee of the Parliament of South Australia, considering revisions to legislation governing care of the dying, did not support allowing doctors to assist suicide. They recommended that no liability attach to the provision of reasonable palliative care which happens to shorten life. The Committee affirmed the suggestion that positive open orders to provide […]

It is argued that the natural death that may result from stopping treatment is the opposite of mercy killing. A case is made for the paramount importance of the inviolability of life. Suicide in Canada is discussed, as are quality of life, autonomy & choice, sanctity of life, & palliative care & the role of […]

This editorial expresses the need for better palliative care, especially as much of the American public, and many physicians, believe that physical agony can only be stopped through euthanasia. In cancer centers assessed, 42% of patients were not prescribed basic analgesics. 86% of oncologists felt their cancer patients were undermedicated. Medical schools must have training […]

In this letter to the editor, the authors respond to a hypothetical case describing a 34-year-old paraplegic woman with breast cancer who requested medical assistance to die after a failed attempt at discharge (see SIEC #950195). They argue that this case illustrates a failure of simple palliative care – the family was not ready to […]

This letter responds to a earlier reported Canadian Medical Association survey of doctors (see SIEC AN 930818). The author contends that the euthanasia lobby has ignored the central role of palliative care. He believes organized medicine should be addressing the serious deficiencies in the delivery of palliative & hospice care rather than upsetting the public […]