Authors: Fenella Rouse
Publish Date: 1986/07/25
Volume: 256, Issue: 4, Pages: 470-470
Abstract
To the Editor— The opinion of the American Medical Association AMA Council of Judicial and Ethical Affairs Withholding or Withdrawing LifeProlonging Medical Treatment makes clear that artificially supplied nutrition and hydration are medical treatments to be considered in the same light as other technological procedures that may in some circumstances only prolong dying As with all other treatment it is primarily the patients wishes that determine whether tubal sustenance should be administered The statement also clarifies a point that is frequently obscured patients rights are the same whether the patients deaths are imminent or whether the dying process may be prolonged for months or yearsRecently three courts in Florida California and New Jersey handed down rulings consistent with the new AMA opinionIn Florida the husband of 75yearold Helen Corbett went to court to stop the artificial feeding that was maintaining his wife The trial court ruled that it
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