Pediatrics
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One of the most difficult decisions that doctors and parents must make is the decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Doctors find it easier to withdraw treatments in situations where withdrawal will be rapidly fatal rather than in situations in which treatment withdrawal will lead to a prolonged dying process. Mechanical ventilation is usually such a treatment. ⋯ Steven R. Leuthner is a neonatologist and professor of pediatrics and bioethics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. They each recommend slightly different approaches to this dilemma.