But not just old people!!!!
edit for bold
Originally posted by Starlight
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I've heard someone claim that in practice in most Western hospitals, if a child is born with severe abnormalities, in such a way that requires life support, the doctors will usually give the parents the option of discontinuing the life-support and letting the child die. I don't know for sure how true that is though.
P.S. just googled it and found this article in a high-impact journal:
A Life Worth Giving? The Threshold for Permissible Withdrawal of Life Support From Disabled Newborn Infants:
P.S. just googled it and found this article in a high-impact journal:
A Life Worth Giving? The Threshold for Permissible Withdrawal of Life Support From Disabled Newborn Infants:
Withdrawal of life support is a frequent occurrence in newborn intensive care. In many units the majority of deaths follow decisions to withhold or withdraw treatment (Roy et al. 2004; Singh et al. 2004; Verhagen et al. 2009a; Wilkinson et al. 2006). There are two different contexts for decisions. Sometimes life support is withdrawn from infants who are dying, or who have such overwhelming illness that survival is unlikely. These decisions are largely uncontroversial. At other times life support is withdrawn from infants who might survive if all treatment were provided, for example, newborns with severe birth asphyxia (Case 1), premature infants with large brain hemorrhages, or infants with serious congenital abnormalities (e.g., severe spina bifida, trisomy 18 or 13). In such cases, treatment withdrawal is based upon predicted quality of life and is far more contentious (Verhagen et al. 2009a; Wilkinson 2009).
...One frequently encountered answer, at least as found in official guidelines, is that life support may be withdrawn only where the newborn's future is sufficiently dire that the burdens of treatment and of illness outweigh the benefits (American Academy of Pediatrics 1994; British Medical Association. 2007, 3; General Medical Council 2006; Tibballs 2007).
...One frequently encountered answer, at least as found in official guidelines, is that life support may be withdrawn only where the newborn's future is sufficiently dire that the burdens of treatment and of illness outweigh the benefits (American Academy of Pediatrics 1994; British Medical Association. 2007, 3; General Medical Council 2006; Tibballs 2007).
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