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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2009
Case ReportsResponding to suffering: providing options and respecting choice.
- Zail S Berry.
- Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont 05451-8671, USA. zailberry@mac.com
- J Pain Symptom Manage. 2009 Nov 1; 38 (5): 797-800.
AbstractVoluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) as a legal means to hasten death has been discussed by some as an option for persons who wish to end their lives. A case is presented of a woman who elected to forgo eating and drinking to end intractable suffering. The potential for benefit and harm in physicians discussing VSED is discussed. Physicians working with terminally ill patients need to consider the discussion of VSED as a therapeutic tool in their support and care of patients with intractable suffering.
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