They caution that reducing costs by limiting access to needed drugs may lead to higher health care costs and difficulties for the resident including hospitalization. They recommend reducing drug costs through drug therapy management. Consultant pharmacists can contribute to the overall multidisciplinary team needed to develop quality care plans for residents with behavioral problems. Quill, Timothy E., Bernard Lo, and Dan W. Brock. A Comparison of Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking, Terminal Sedation, Physician-Assisted Suicide, and Voluntary Active Euthanasia.
Palliative care is designed to relieve suffering at the end of life.
However, between 10 percent and 50 percent of patients in palliative care programs still report significant pain during the last week of life. These patients often ask their physicians to hasten their death. In addition to pain, patients report a loss of meaning, dignity, and independence. The authors compare these four practices as potential interventions for terminally ill, competent patients who are suffering intolerably. Also discussed is the notion that some of these measures are active and some passive in nature.