Responding to Intractable Terminal Suffering
Authors: Morton Leonard Yanow
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2000)

Letters3 October 2000Responding to Intractable Terminal SufferingMorton Leonard Yanow, JDMorton Leonard Yanow, JDMediate First, Inc.; Tonasket, WA 98855 (Yanow)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-133-7-200010030-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Quill and Byock's paper (1) is a significant contribution to the end-of-life care discussion. However, I continue to question the use of the phrase terminal sedation by the medical profession, particularly in light of Quill and Byock's paper favoring this treatment. Whether used to describe the purposeful administration of sedation under the clinical guidelines summarized in this paper or to describe the unintended side effect of high-dose opioid therapy (a scenario that the authors choose to distinguish from their guidelines), the phrase implies intent. For health care providers who are understandably fearful of judicial interpretation and who ...Reference1. Quill TE, Byock IR. Responding to intractable terminal suffering: the role of terminal sedation and voluntary refusal of food and fluids. ACP–ASIM End-of-Life Care Consensus Panel. Ann Intern Med. 2000;132:408-14. LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Morton Leonard Yanow, JDAffiliations: Mediate First, Inc.; Tonasket, WA 98855 (Yanow) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoResponding to Intractable Terminal Suffering: The Role of Terminal Sedation and Voluntary Refusal of Food and Fluids Timothy E. Quill and Ira R. Byock , for the ACP-ASIM End-of-Life Care Consensus PanelResponding to Intractable Terminal Suffering Eric L. Krakauer Responding to Intractable Terminal Suffering Daniel P. Sulmasy , Wayne A. Ury , Judith C. Ahronheim , Mark Siegler , Leon Kass , John Lantos , Robert A. Burt , Kathleen Foley , Richard Payne , Carlos Gomez , Thomas J. Krizek , Edmund D. Pellegrino , and Russell K. Portenoy Responding to Intractable Terminal Suffering Timothy E. Quill and Ira R. Byock Palliative Treatment of Last Resort and Assisted Suicide Daniel P. Sulmasy , Wayne A. Ury , Judith C. Ahronheim , Mark Siegler , Leon Kass , John Lantos , Robert A. Burt , Kathleen Foley , Richard Payne , Carlos Gomez , Thomas J. Krizek , Edmund D. Pellegrino , and Russell K. Portenoy Palliative Treatment of Last Resort and Assisted Suicide Timothy E. Quill , Barbara Coombs Lee , and Sally Nunn Publication of Papers on Assisted Suicide and Terminal Sedation Daniel P. Sulmasy , Wayne A. Ury , Judith C. Ahronheim , Mark Siegler , Leon Kass , John Lantos , Robert A. Burt , Kathleen Foley , Richard Payne , Carlos Gomez , Thomas J. Krizek , Edmund D. Pellegrino , and Russell K. Portenoy Publication of Papers on Assisted Suicide and Terminal Sedation Lois Snyder Publication of Papers on Assisted Suicide and Terminal Sedation Frank Davidoff Metrics Cited byFrom Sedation to Continuous Sedation Until Death: How Has the Conceptual Basis of Sedation in End-of-Life Care Changed Over Time?Terminal Sedation: An Acceptable Exit Strategy?Muriel R. Gillick, MDDefinition of Sedation for Symptom ReliefPalliative sedation vs. terminal sedation: What’s in a name? 3 October 2000Volume 133, Issue 7Page: 560KeywordsHealth care providersOpioidsSedation ePublished: 3 October 2000 Issue Published: 3 October 2000 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2000 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...