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Court applications for withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration from patients in a permanent vegetative state: family experiences

Kitzinger, Jenny ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2593-8033 and Kitzinger, Celia 2016. Court applications for withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration from patients in a permanent vegetative state: family experiences. Journal of Medical Ethics 42 , pp. 11-17. 10.1136/medethics-2015-102777

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Abstract

Withdrawal of artificially delivered nutrition and hydration (ANH) from patients in a permanent vegetative state (PVS) requires judicial approval in England and Wales, even when families and healthcare professionals agree that withdrawal is in the patient’s best interests. Part of the rationale underpinning the original recommendation for such court approval was the reassurance of patients’ families, but there has been no research as to whether or not family members are reassured by the requirement for court proceedings or how they experience the process. The research reported here draws on in-depth narrative interviews with 10 family members (from five different families) of PVS patients who have been the subject of court proceedings for ANH-withdrawal. We analyse the empirical evidence to understand how family members perceive and experience the process of applying to the courts for ANH-withdrawal and consider the ethical and practice implications of our findings. Our analysis of family experience supports arguments grounded in economic and legal analysis that court approval should no longer be required. We conclude with some suggestions for how we might develop other more efficient, just and humane mechanisms for reviewing best interests decisions about ANH-withdrawal from these patients

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA1001 Forensic Medicine. Medical jurisprudence. Legal medicine
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
Funders: Wellcome Trust, ESRC
Related URLs:
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance: 23 July 2015
Last Modified: 05 May 2023 23:30
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/79120

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