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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Can a family in ICU be Coerced to Withdraw Life Support While Patient Wants to Live a Violation of Rights?

“Is pressuring a family to withdraw nutrition or ventilation while the patient is alert and wanting to live be considered a violation of care standards?” That is a question we have from one of our clients that I’m going to answer today.

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and this is another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, a question that we have from one of our clients, “Is pressuring a family in intensive care to withdraw nutrition or ventilation while the patient is alert and wanting to live considered a violation of care standards?”

In short, before I go into much detail, the answer is, of course, pressuring a family to withdraw nutrition or ventilation in intensive care while the patient is alert, conscious, and expresses a will to live, would almost be certainly considered a violation of ethical and medical care standards in most jurisdictions and here is why.

Number 1, patient autonomy, of course. The patient is alert and has the capacity to make medical decisions, their wishes must be respected. Forcing or pressuring withdrawal of life sustaining treatment  against their will would be a violation of informed consent laws and patients’ rights.

Number 2, ethical standards. Medical ethics emphasize respect for life, patient autonomy and non-maleficence, do no harm. Pressuring for withdrawal in such a case goes against all three principles.

Number 3, there’s a legal risk. Such pressure could expose providers and institutions to legal liability, including claims of medical malpractice, discrimination against disabled persons, or even wrongful death if the patient dies as a result.

Number 4, professional guidelines. Most professional medical associations provide clear guidelines that care decisions need to be based on the patient’s values and wishes, especially when the patient is capable of decision making.

So, here are solutions if you are facing a situation like that. If you have someone you know is facing this situation, it does definitely help to document everything, who said what, when and under what circumstances, and seek a second opinion, of course, and seek legal counsel and advocacy from Intensive Care Hotline because that’s what we are specialized in, to advocate for our clients and their families.

Because for example, we have seen many situations over the years where families came to us and they would say something like, “Hey, my mom, my dad, my spouse, my brother, my sister is in intensive care, and the ICU team wants to withdraw treatment tomorrow at 3 o’clock”, and we have turned many situations around where we stopped the ICU simply from doing what they were supposed to be doing.

Now, you might be asking, why would they even do that? Well, the reality is that many ICUs unfortunately think they want to make decisions about who can live and who can die, and that is very inappropriate, of course, but it does happen. It does happen on a regular basis, unfortunately, all around the world.

We have helped many families all around the world in intensive care turning these situations around. We’ve got case studies, testimonials on our website to verify what I’m saying. We’ve got podcast interviews on our website to verify what I’m saying is correct here. You can look at the interviews that we’ve done with clients.

It does happen; ICUs need beds. One of the biggest challenges is that they don’t have enough ICU beds and unfortunately, sometimes, not all the time, but one way to empty bed is by letting a patient die, rightly or wrongly because the odds are in a critically ill patient’s favor to actually survive. If you look at the statistics, 70% to 90% of critically ill patients survive, so the odds are your loved one’s favor. You have to keep that in mind.

So, I hope that answers your question.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in 3 different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care and I’ve been consulting and advocating with my team here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that, as I said, on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section or at our intensivecarehotline.com testimonial section where you can see what our clients say. That’s why our advice is absolutely life changing, and I mean that in any positive sense, of course. It is absolutely life changing.

The biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights, and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

You can join a growing number of clients and families that we have helped over the years. We’ve helped hundreds and hundreds of clients and members over the years to improve their lives instantly when they have a loved one critically ill in intensive care by making sure that our clients make informed decisions, they have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure their loved ones get the best care and treatment always.

That’s why I do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly with you or on your behalf or I’ll set you up with the right questions to ask because I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. You also get exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I’ve personally written and recorded for our members. All of that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets the best care and treatment always.

All of that, you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, click the like button, click the notification bell, share this video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube Live where I answer your questions live on a show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.

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