When is palliative sedation indicated with a dying patient?

Palliative sedation is indicated when there is intractable distress in patients who are terminally ill or dying. It is a palliative practice geared toward providing relief from pain, anxiety, agitation in patients who otherwise have a short lifespan.

What ethical concerns are raised by the practice of palliative and terminal sedation?

Ethical Issues in Palliative Sedation. The bioethical principles supporting the use of palliative sedation to relieve suffering are autonomy, beneficence, and the doctrine of double effect. Autonomy addresses a person’s right to make healthcare decisions based on their personal values, beliefs, and goals.

Why is palliative sedation controversial?

Continuous deep sedation is controversial because it ends a person’s ‘biographical life’ (the ability to interact meaningfully with other people) and shortens ‘biological life’. Ethically, continuous deep sedation is an exceptional last resort measure.

Are Dying patients sedated?

Continuous sedation is always administered in the final stages of life to patients who are dying and are experiencing unbearable suffer- ing. The object of palliative sedation is to relieve suffering; lowering the level of consciousness is the means to that end.

When to use palliative sedation in terminal patients?

In these cases, sedation may be the only way to get adequate relief. Once the decision has been made by a physician in cooperation with the patient or her decision-maker to use palliative sedation, a sedative medication is given and increased until the desired comfort level is achieved.

Is it legal to use palliative sedation in Catholic hospitals?

Palliative sedation, though, has been administered since the hospice care movement began in the 1960s and is legal everywhere. Doctors in Catholic hospitals practice palliative sedation even though the Catholic Church opposes aid-in-dying.

Is it okay to induce unconsciousness during palliative sedation?

Often, people undergoing palliative sedation maintain consciousness while sedated to a comfortable degree. But if you or your loved one still experiences intolerable symptoms, inducing unconsciousness may be an acceptable last resort.

What are the clinical criteria for using sedation?

Clinical Criteria. The goal of sedation must be to alleviate suffering, not end the patient’s life or hasten death. The patient must be close to death already, so sedation would not significantly shorten survival.