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Related Experiment Videos

Withdrawing may be preferable to withholding.

Jean-Louis Vincent1

  • 1Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Belgium. jlvincen@ulb.ac.be

Critical Care (London, England)
|July 1, 2005
PubMed
Summary
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Limiting life-sustaining therapy in intensive care units (ICUs) involves withdrawing or withholding treatment. This article argues that withdrawing therapy, though ethically equivalent to withholding, may be preferable in end-of-life care decisions.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Intensive Care Medicine
  • End-of-Life Care

Background:

  • Most intensive care unit (ICU) deaths result from decisions to limit life-sustaining therapy.
  • End-of-life decision-making is a critical component of contemporary ICU practice.
  • Key decisions include withdrawing (stopping) and withholding (not starting) therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the ethical considerations surrounding end-of-life decisions in ICUs.
  • To present arguments for why withdrawing life-sustaining therapy may be preferable to withholding it.
  • To address the ongoing debate despite ethical equivalence acknowledged by many ethicists.

Main Methods:

  • Ethical argumentation and philosophical analysis.
  • Review of established principles in medical ethics and intensive care.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Discussion of the practical implications of withdrawing versus withholding therapy.

    • Main Results:

    • While Western ethicists generally agree that withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining therapy are ethically equivalent.
    • The article posits that withdrawing therapy, despite ethical parity, may offer practical advantages in certain end-of-life scenarios.
    • The debate surrounding these practices persists despite theoretical consensus.

    Conclusions:

    • Decisions to limit life-sustaining therapy are integral to modern intensive care.
    • Withdrawing therapy, though ethically equivalent to withholding, is argued to be a preferable approach.
    • Further discourse is warranted to refine practices in end-of-life care within ICUs.