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(March 20, 2005) --------- NEW YORK, NY ----------- (New York Times) To many people, death by removing a feeding tube brings to mind the agony of starvation. But medical experts say that the process of dying that begins when food and fluids cease is relatively straightforward, and can cause little discomfort ... In fact, declining food and water is a common way that terminally ill patients end their lives, because it is less painful than violent suicide and requires no help from doctors.
Terri Schiavo, who is in a persistent vegetative state, is "probably not experiencing anything at all subjectively," said Dr. Emanuel, and so the question of discomfort, from a scientific point of view, is not in dispute.
Once food and water stop, death usually comes in about two weeks, and is caused by effects of dehydration, not the loss of nutrition, said Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "They generally slip into a peaceful coma," he said. "It's very quiet, it's very dignified - it's very gentle."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Decision To End Life Support a Common One ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (March 18, 2005) --------- SCRANTON, PA ---------- (Associated Press) Hospitals and nursing homes don't track how many Americans die each year after being "unplugged" from some form of life support, but the number is likely to be at least in the tens of thousands, doctors said Friday ... Every day at hospitals and nursing homes, relatives of patients who have been rendered unresponsive by a stroke or Alzheimer's disease instruct doctors to detach their loved one from a ventilator or remove a feeding tube ... "It's so common, many hospitals don't require these kinds of decisions to be brought before an ethics panel anymore," said Laurie Zoloth, a professor of medical ethics Northwestern University. American Medical Association guidelines bar doctors from performing euthanasia or participating in assisted suicide, but also require physicians to respect a patient's wishes to forgo care, even if it is life sustaining. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=00&slug==Withdrawing%20Life%20Support *** Related articles: Families, Doctors Regularly Deal With Tough Choice: http://www.observer-reporter.com/291565844590636.bsp Death From Dehydration Common, Placid, Doctors Say: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/11183111.htm Most Terminal Care Decisions Are Not Made by Courts or Legislators, but by Families: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Schiavo/story?id=Y0373&page==1 Doctors Overwhelmingly Support Ethics of Removing Feeding Tube: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/businesswire/2005/03/20/businesswire20050320005032r1.html
-------------------- The light of truth is blinding to most.
More comforting to look only at the shadows of falseness.
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Morphine in the days of Doc's making house calls was called the Physicians friend....It was better than pulling out feeding tubes I guess.They just went to sleep and that was it.
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