End-of-Life Care: Consensus Statement by Indian Academy of Pediatrics

The right to life has been accepted as one of the fundamental rights in our constitution. Resuscitation is a procedure performed for all patients suffering from cardiac or respiratory arrest irrespective of the clinical condition. There are no legal guidelines defining process to be adopted in situations where resuscitation is unlikely to be useful. There are no guidelines on withdrawal of care or end of life (EOL) decisions, accepted by the Government, judiciary, professionals, academicians or the community.

A National Consultative meet was organized by Indian Medico-Legal and Ethics Association and the Medico-legal group of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) to formulate the guidelines on 'Do Not Resuscitate' (DNR), and 'End of Life Support'. The meeting was organized on 30th May, 2014 at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi. The meeting involved professionals from legal and various medical fields as well as administrators, and members from Medical Council of India.

To frame the guidelines related to EOL care issues and withdrawal or with-holding treatment in situations where outcome of continued treatment is expected to be poor in terms of ultimate survival or quality of life.

(i) DNR or end of life care should not be activated till consensus is achieved between treating team and the next of kin; (ii) Consensus within health care team (including nurses) needs to be achieved before discussion with family members; (iii) Discussion should involve the family members - next of kin and other persons who can influence decisions; (iv) If family members want to include their family physician or a prominent person from the community, it should be encouraged. Similarly if family members want a particular member of treating team, he/she should be included; (v) Treating doctors should have all the facts of the case including investigations available with them before discussion; (vi) Unit in-charge or treating doctor should be responsible for achieving consensus and should initiate the discussion; (vii) After presenting the facts of the cases, family members should be encouraged to ask questions and clear doubts (if any); (viii) At the end of discussion, a summary of the discussion should be prepared and signed by the next of kin and the unit in-charge or treating doctors; (ix) DNR orders should be reviewed in the event of unexpected improvement or on request of next of kin. Same should be documented; (x) DNR orders remain valid during transport.