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PRACTICE: Jane Gibbins, Gaye Senior Smith, and Karen Forbes Life saving treatment for a "palliative care" patient BMJ 2008; 337: a428 [Full text]

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An important lesson

Simon Kenwright   (9 February 2009)

An important lesson 9 February 2009
Simon Kenwright, retd East Kent TN25 6BD Send response to journal: Re: An important lesson	Many thanks to Gibbins et al for their case report.It would have been interesting to know whether the patient had made an advance decision or whether there had been any discussion beforehand about the possibility of intervention in the event of such an episode. This seems to have been in part iatrogenic : did that in any way influence the decision to treat? As a member of Dignity in Dying I am well aware that there is widespread misunderstanding about the term "palliative" and that even for those thought to be in the last months or year of life optimal symptom control can sometimes be best obtained by invasive treatments.One can then use the time following recovery to discuss how the patient would like to be treated in the event of a further episode. Competing interests: Member of Dignity in Dying