UMN - End of Life Care: An Ethical Overview
Center for Bioethics
University of Minnesota
(2005)
Excerpt: "INTRODUCTION - As medical knowledge and technology increase, so do options for healthcare. When decisions arise concerning the treatment of dying patients, these options present complex ethical dilemmas. Many are faced with decisions about the best treatment to ease a patient’s final suffering. Perhaps a decision will need to be made about whether to allow a patient’s life to end by terminating treatment altogether. These decisions—regarding their own care or the care of a dying loved one—confront people from all walks of life.
Beginning with a definition of death in modern society and continuing all the way through post-death issues, End of Life Care: An Ethical Overview presents significant ethical issues related to death and dying. [...]"