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Artificial feeding--solid ground, not a slippery slope.

R Steinbrook1, B Lo

  • 1Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

The New England Journal of Medicine
|February 4, 1988
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Decisions on artificial feeding are controversial. A court ruled that artificial feeding can be withdrawn from patients in a persistent vegetative state if it aligns with their prior wishes.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Bioethics
  • Legal Medicine

Background:

  • Artificial feeding decisions are highly controversial, often conflated with basic humane care.
  • Historically, food and water provision symbolized love and concern, complicating withdrawal decisions.

Observation:

  • The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts made a landmark ruling regarding artificial feeding.
  • The case involved Paul E. Brophy, Sr., a patient in a persistent vegetative state.

Findings:

  • The court ruled that artificial feeding tubes could be removed if consistent with the patient's previously expressed wishes.
  • This decision reflects an emerging medical and legal consensus on withholding artificial nutrition and hydration.

Implications:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Artificial feeding should be viewed as a medical intervention, not routine care.
  • Competent patients can refuse artificial feeding; incompetent patients can have it withdrawn if they previously stated this wish.