Terminal Sedation: Palliative Care for Intractable Pain, Post Glucksberg and Quill

McStay, Rob, American Journal of Law & Medicine

I. INTRODUCTION

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court tacitly endorsed terminal sedation as an alternative to physician-assisted suicide, thus intensifying a debate in the legal and medical communities as to the propriety of terminal sedation and setting the stage for a new battleground in the "right to die" controversy.1 Terminal sedation is the induction of an unconscious state to relieve otherwise intractable distress, and is frequently accompanied by the withdrawal of any life-sustaining intervention, such as hydration and nutrition.2 This practice is a clinical option of "last resort" when less aggressive palliative care measures have failed.3 Terminal sedation has also been …

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Publication information: Article title: Terminal Sedation: Palliative Care for Intractable Pain, Post Glucksberg and Quill. Contributors: McStay, Rob - Author. Journal title: American Journal of Law & Medicine. Volume: 29. Issue: 1 Publication date: January 1, 2003. Page number: 45. © Not available. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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