Physician Involvement in Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking
Authors: Bernard Gert
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2002)

Letters17 December 2002Physician Involvement in Voluntary Stopping of Eating and DrinkingBernard Gert, PhD, James L. Bernat, MD, and R. Peter Mogielnicki, MDBernard Gert, PhDDartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH 03755Search for more papers by this author, James L. Bernat, MDDartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH 03755Search for more papers by this author, and R. Peter Mogielnicki, MDDartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH 03755Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-137-12-200212170-00031 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Jansen and Sulmasy (1) categorize as immoral our position (2) that physicians should notify dying patients who request physician-assisted suicide of their right, as an alternative, to stop eating and drinking. We agree that it is important to account for our moral intuitions, including those about morally acceptable actions for physicians caring for patients at the end of life. However, it is important not to confuse religious intuitions with moral intuitions and for physicians not to impose their personal moral or religious intuitions on patients when they know that they are not widely shared.Physicians are not ...References1. Jansen LA, Sulmasy DP. Sedation, alimentation, hydration, and equivocation: careful conversation about care at the end of life. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:845-9. [PMID: 12044133] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Bernat JL, Gert B, Mogielnicki RP. Patient refusal of hydration and nutrition. An alternative to physician-assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia. Arch Intern Med. 1993;153:2723-8. [PMID: 8257247] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH 03755 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoSedation, Alimentation, Hydration, and Equivocation: Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life Lynn A. Jansen and Daniel P. Sulmasy Physician Involvement in Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking Lynn A. Jansen and Daniel P. Sulmasy Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life Charles G. Sasser Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life Timothy E. Quill Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life Paul Rousseau Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life Tatsuya Morita , Satoru Tsuneto , and Yasuo Shima Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life John H. Kvasnicka Careful Conversation about Care at the End of Life Lynn A. Jansen and Daniel P. Sulmasy Metrics Cited byNeurology ethics at the end of life 17 December 2002Volume 137, Issue 12Page: 1010-1011KeywordsEatingFoodPatient advocacySuicide ePublished: 17 December 2002 Issue Published: 17 December 2002 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2002 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...