BMJ 2002;324:1055 ( 4 May )

News

GMC to send out new guidelines on end of life decisions

Clare Dyer, legal correspondent, BMJ
The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Guidelines for UK doctors about taking decisions on withholding or withdrawing treatment from patients are expected to be approved by the General Medical Council this month and issued to every doctor on the register.

News of the impending guidance emerged this week as the Department of Health announced the death of the quadriplegic woman known only as Ms B, who won a court ruling in March allowing the ventilator keeping her alive to be switched off.

The guidelines were prompted by concerns aired in the press about the withdrawal of treatment from elderly patients and by a number of cases in which patients or their relatives were distressed to discover that "do not attempt resuscitation" orders had been made without their knowledge.

A GMC spokesman said that the guidance, drawn up by a working group of the standards committee led by Professor David Hatch, "sets out the legal and ethical . . . [Full text of this article]
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