The Durban World Congress Ethics Round Table Conference Report: I. Differences between withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments

Charles L Sprung; Fathima Paruk; Niranjan Kissoon; Christiane S Hartog; Jeffrey Lipman; Bin Du; Andrew Argent; R Eric Hodgson; Bertrand Guidet; A B Johan Groeneveld; Charles Feldman

doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2014.06.022

The Durban World Congress Ethics Round Table Conference Report: I. Differences between withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments

J Crit Care. 2014 Dec;29(6):890-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2014.06.022. Epub 2014 Jun 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: charless@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
² Division of Critical Care, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³ Department of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital and Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children, University British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Center for Sepsis Control and Care, Jena, Germany.
⁵ Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital and The University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Medical Intensive Care Unit, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁷ School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁸ Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, University of KwaZulu-Natal eThekwini-Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
⁹ Service de réanimation médicale, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France.
¹⁰ Department of Intensive Care, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
¹¹ Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

PMID: 25151218
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2014.06.022

Abstract

Introduction: Withholding life-sustaining treatments (WHLST) and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments (WDLST) occur in most intensive care units (ICUs) around the world to varying degrees.

Methods: Speakers from invited faculty of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine Congress in 2013 with an interest in ethics were approached to participate in an ethics round table. Participants were asked if they agreed with the statement "There is no moral difference between withholding and withdrawing a mechanical ventilator." Differences between WHLST and WDLST were discussed. Official statements relating to WHLST and WDLST from intensive care societies, professional bodies, and government statements were sourced, documented, and compared.

Results: Sixteen respondents stated that there was no moral difference between withholding or withdrawing a mechanical ventilator, 2 were neutral, and 4 stated that there was a difference. Most ethicists and medical organizations state that there is no moral difference between WHLST and WDLST. A review of guidelines noted that all but 1 of 29 considered WHLST and WDLST as ethically or legally equivalent.

Conclusions: Most respondents, practicing intensivists, stated that there is no difference between WHLST and WDLST, supporting most ethicists and professional organizations. A minority of physicians still do not accept their equivalency.

Keywords: Ethics; Law; Life-sustaining treatments; Withdrawing; Withholding.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Attitude of Health Personnel*
Bioethical Issues
Congresses as Topic
Critical Care / ethics*
Humans
Life Support Care / ethics
Morals*
Respiration, Artificial / ethics*
Withholding Treatment / ethics*