BMJ 1995;311:1370 (18 November)

Letters

Elective ventilation is cost effective and humane

EDITOR,--We expected that our defence of elective ventilation1 would provoke criticism and wish to respond here to letters on the issue.2 Peter G M Wallace rightly says2 that the published experience of elective ventilation is limited to nine patients. The table summarises our full experience over six years. Two further patients became non-heart-beating donors as the relatives agreed to organ donation (and elective ventilation) but no intensive care unit bed was available. The 23 donors yielded 41 kidneys, two hearts, three sets of heart valves, one liver, and 20 corneas, which were transplanted with favourable outcomes.

Moving a patient back to a general medical ward does not create distress if the family members are supported: they consider that everything possible has been done for their relative.

We are not proposing a "soft sell" on the timing of death. We raise the philosophical issue of when death can be said to . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

An Ethical Debate: Elective ventilation of potential organ donors
Hany Riad and Anthony Nicholls
BMJ 1995 310: 714-715. [Extract] [Full Text]

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