Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN
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J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. · Aug 1993
Variation in the attitudes of dialysis unit medical directors toward decisions to withhold and withdraw dialysis.
Increasingly, physicians who treat patients with renal failure are deciding with patients and families whether to withhold or withdraw dialysis. These decisions as well as those concerning whether medical directors of dialysis units felt prepared to make them were studied using three hypothetical scenarios. A questionnaire survey of 524 physician medical directors of adult chronic dialysis units throughout the United States was conducted. ⋯ Almost all medical directors of dialysis units believe that they are prepared to make decisions to withhold and withdraw dialysis. Nevertheless, this study revealed significant variation in their attitudes toward these decisions. Practice guidelines and consultation with ethics committees might assist dialysis unit medical directors in making these decisions more uniformly and in a way that promotes patient benefit.