The American journal of medicine
-
The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of external factors on physicians' life-support decisions. "External factors" are those factors that promote the interests of people other than the patient. Examples of external factors include physician legal liability and family wishes about patient care. ⋯ External factors impact the life-support decisions of physicians. Physician legal liability may have an especially great impact on these decisions when patients' preferences are not known.