Judith A. C. Rietjens et al., Physician Reports of Terminal Sedation Without Hydration or Nutrition for Patients Nearing Death in the Netherlands.

• Author: Rietjens, Judith A.C.
• Position: Abstracts

Judith A. C. Rietjens et al., Physician Reports of Terminal Sedation Without Hydration or Nutrition for Patients Nearing Death in the Netherlands, 141 ANNALS OF INTERNAL MED. 178 (2004).

Dutch physicians were interviewed in order to describe the practice of terminal sedation in the Netherlands. The study included a nationwide stratified sample of 482 physicians, of which 410 responded, and 211 of these reported characteristics of their most recent terminal sedation case.

Measurements included physician reports of frequency of terminal sedation (defined as the administration of drugs to keep the patient in deep sedation or coma until death, without giving artificial nutrition or hydration), characteristics of the decision-making process, drugs used, the estimated life-shortening effect, and frequency of euthanasia discussions.

Of the 410 respondents, fifty-two percent had used terminal sedation. Of the 211 most recent cases, physicians used terminal sedation to...