Legal aspects of termination of treatment decisions

A large body of medical and ethical opinion holds that it is justifiable to terminate medical treatment for permanently unconscious persons. But opponents of particular decisions to withhold or withdraw treatment may argue that the decisions violate laws against homicide, pose a threat to the lives of other less severely afflicted persons, rest on uncertain diagnoses or prognoses, proceed without adequate knowledge of individual preferences or interests, or have an adverse impact on the values of physicians and other health care providers. Although laws differ among the states, decisions that derive from rigorous clinical evaluations and carefully achieved agreements between medical caretakers and lawful proxies of afflicted persons about appropriate levels of care should be defensible against various forms of legal attack.