Ethical Arguments for Withdrawing Life-sustaining Medical Intervention

Decision to withdraw life-sustaining medical intervention(LSMI) is a common ethical issue in clinical practice. This paper reviews and analyzes the ethical arguments for withdrawing LSMI from three aspects: respect for autonomy, medical futility and patients' best interests. The authors argue t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inXiehe Yixue Zazhi Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 1116 - 1122
Main Authors ZHANG Di, NING Xiaohong
Format Journal Article
LanguageChinese
Published Editorial Office of Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 01.09.2023
Subjects
law
life-sustaining medical intervention
medical ethics
withdraw
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Summary:Decision to withdraw life-sustaining medical intervention(LSMI) is a common ethical issue in clinical practice. This paper reviews and analyzes the ethical arguments for withdrawing LSMI from three aspects: respect for autonomy, medical futility and patients' best interests. The authors argue that withdrawal of LSMI can be ethically justified when any of the following conditions is met: when patient gives valid consent, LSMI is judged to be medically futile, or it is in the patients' best interests. This paper proposes practical suggestions for the withdrawal of LSMI in clinical practice, and presents several policy suggestions. Finally, the authors identify several challenges of withdrawing LSMI in practice and possible approaches to addressing them.
ISSN:1674-9081
DOI:10.12290/xhyxzz.2022-0332