The Hospice journal
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The withholding of nutritional support from patients is one of the most controversial issues in modern medical ethics and law. Withholding support from a consenting, terminally ill patient is the simplest case situation to defend, but patients in a persistent vegetative state or irreversible, chronic illness, require more careful deliberation. Regarding this issue, five primary principles have been utilized in legal decision making. ⋯ Optimally, those wishes should be codified into an advance directive and a proxy decision maker named. If a patient is not competent, and without previously expressed wishes, immediate family members are usually consulted for what they believe are the patient's best interests. Last, although limitations of care for terminally ill children fall under the same general guidelines as for adults, the "Baby Doe Rules" are a complicating factor.