The December 26, 2009 edition of the New York Times carried a lengthy article describing the practice of palliative sedation, whereby strong sedative medications were used to provide comfort and relief to dying patients whose pain and suffering did not respond to standard interventions. Entitled Hard Choice for a Comfortable Death: Sedation, the article has generated several hundred reader comments.
Pallimed founder and palliative care physician Drew Rosielle, MD shares his reactions to the article here: NYT on Palliative Sedation.
To learn more about this experience from the perspective of a certified hospice and palliative care nurse who has “seen palliative sedation work wonders,” read Angela Morrow’s blog post: Palliative or Terminal Sedation Overview.
See also Some Observations in Response to NY Times Article on Palliative Sedation, by Judy Schwartz, PhD, RN, regional clinical coordinator at Compassion and Choices, a nonprofit end-of-life advocacy and consultative organization.
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