Abstract

In a substantial number of cases, dying patients are brought into a state of lowered consciousness and kept in it until they die in order to prevent or stop severe suffering. Many guidelines and position statements have been published in recent years on sedation until death, as I will call this policy. Some have been published by professional organisations and are meant to be binding for their members, others are the work of task forces and merely aim at providing medical, moral, and legal guidance.1 These guidelines all take the following positions: the patient’s consciousness should not be lowered more than is necessary for preventing her from suffering; it must be impossible to alleviate the suffering in any...