Legal Aspects of Withholding and Withdrawing Life Support from Critically III Patients in the United States And Providing Palliative Care to Them

摘要

Studies (1-3) have demonstrated that most patients who die in intensive care units (ICUs) in the United States do so during the withholding and withdrawal of life support and the admin - istration of palliative care. Withholding and withdrawal of life support is a process through which various medical interven - tions are either not given to patients or removed from them with the expectation that the patients will die from their uder - lying illnesses.