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Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking: Conceptual, Personal, and Policy Questions
1Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
|October 19, 2021
Summary
Voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) is gaining attention. This article explores ethical, personal, and policy questions surrounding VSED to foster understanding and inform moral evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Bioethics
- Medical Ethics
- End-of-Life Care
Background:
- Voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) is an end-of-life practice receiving increased attention.
- The practice is not yet widely recognized in the United States but is discussed in medical and bioethics literature.
- Understanding VSED is crucial given its implications for patient autonomy and palliative care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine 11 key questions regarding VSED.
- To analyze the conceptual, personal, and public policy dimensions of VSED.
- To inform the moral evaluation and public policy surrounding VSED.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of VSED in the context of death and dying.
- Conceptual analysis of VSED's essential features.
- Examination of ethical considerations, including comparisons to suicide.
Main Results:
- Identified essential features of VSED.
- Discussed reasons for and against choosing VSED.
- Considered responses from family and caregivers, and public policy implications.
Conclusions:
- VSED presents complex ethical, personal, and policy challenges.
- Further examination is needed to understand VSED's role in end-of-life decision-making.
- Informing moral evaluation and public policy requires a comprehensive understanding of VSED.
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